The moderate faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference staged a one-day hunger strike in Srinagar on Tuesday to attract international attention toward what it called "worsening human rights situation in Kashmir".

Around 400 activists of the moderate APHC group headed by Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq participated in the strike.

Executive, general council and working committee members of the APHC joined the stir. Those present included former chairman Moulvi Abbas Ansari and chief spokesman of the separatist conglomerate Abdul Gani Bhat, Bilal Gani Lone apart from the nearly 400 APHC supporters.

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"Stop ill-treatment of women and killing of innocents," one placard read.

Addressing the APHC activists, Abdul Gani Bhat said, "The human rights situation in Kashmir has deteriorated after the visit of the Indian prime minister and the home minister. Some elements are bent upon sabotaging the peace process."

"We wont tolerate the killings and molestation of our women. We want an immediate halt to the abuses. We will stage hunger strikes in towns and villages if the situation doesn't improve."

Interestingly, National Conference patron and former J&K chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah had asked his party men join the hunger strike.

The first NC activist who showed up at the venue was Ghulam Rasool Sofi.

Upon seeing Sofi, some APHC activists objected saying that first "Sofi's party should accept that Kashmir is a disputed territory".

Sofi had to leave the tent but later returned after Abdul Gani Bhat intervened.

Later four senior NC leaders, including Irfan Shah and Shamima Firdaus, a sitting upper house member, joined Sofi but left soon after.

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