KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Terming “Kashmir issue” a stark reality, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (m) Chairperson, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Friday said whether in Kashmir or in India, voices for the resolution of this “vexed issue” would continue to get louder and it does not warrant that anybody raising such voice be declared as “traitor” or “anti-national”.
Addressing a Friday congregation at the historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, after several days of his house arrest, the chief cleric said that J&K has been practically turned into a “police state” and a policy of muzzling the voice of the people on the basis of coercion and use of “brutal force” was being pursued in a planned manner by crushing their political, social and religious rights.
He said, “The anger and unrest prevalent in Kashmir was due to the suppressive policies of Government of India and added that if atrocities, use of military might or economic tactics could be able to suppress the voice of the people then there would have been no demand for freedom in Kashmir today.”
He said, “Unfortunately the talking about the resolution of Kashmir these days has become a taboo in India and anybody taking up this issue was immediately being declared an anti-national. It is being ignored that because of the unresolved issue of Kashmir defence budget of India had exceeded beyond limits whereas, according to a United Nations report, 40 percent children in India were malnourished.”
Expressing hope that the educated youth of India now understand that Kashmiris were being victimized by the Government of India and its policies, Mirwaiz said when same things are pointed out by persons like Gautam Navlakha, Arundhati Roy or Prashant Bhushan, they are not only harassed but also targeted with violence.
Questioning the move of arresting people by slapping “anti-national” cases against them just for pointing that the death sentence of Muhammad Afzal Guru and Muhammad Maqbool Bhat was erroneous and justice was not completely done in their cases, Mirwaiz said that the people of Kashmir firmly believed that in sending Bhat and Guru to gallows there was “miscarriage” of justice.
Pointing out that youth were being pushed to the wall and their voice stifled by “unleashing reign of terror” and using excessive force against them, the Mirwaiz said the law of nature is clear that the more the government tries to crush the voice of the people, the more vociferously these voices would reverberate.
Amid pro-Islam and “pro-Azadi” slogans, the APHC Chairman said the Kashmir’s “resistance movement” was based on truth and principles of justice, which had been started by the people of Kashmir in 1931 and would be taken to its logical conclusion.
Assuring that the sacrifices given by the people would not go waste, the Mirwaiz said imposing curbs and carrying of arrests to victimize the people could neither silence the people from raising their voice against injustice in the past nor would it succeed in the future.
