Srinagar: Joint resistance leadership including on Thursday urged people to boycott upcoming elections, saying it provides India an opportunity to mislead world community.
In a joint press release, Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik on Thursday at Hyderpora while calling people to boycott upcoming elections, said that amid ten lakh forces personnel, the “election drama” has lost relevance and credibility.
The trio on Thursday called for an immediate press conference and media was accordingly informed. But authorities denied media to attend said press briefing, the statement said.
Meanwhile, a large contingent of police present didn’t allow party activists and media to cover the event. Later Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and Muhammad Yasin Malik were arrested and taken to police station Humhama, it said.
While lashing at state authorities, the trio said that police action and restrictions on press conference proved that upcoming elections are mere “drama”. “It is not a democratic process but better to say a drama being enacted with the help of armed forces,” they said.
While challenging the state authorities, they said, “Allow us to meet people and that not a single person will cast vote.”
“They are strangulating the legitimate voice and they and their agents will be exposed,” the leaders added.
Rejecting these elections, the leadership said that these elections are being enacted to mislead international community and India is desperate to justify its “occupation” and as such these sham elections are being held.
The leaders asked people to safeguard sacrifices rendered by nation & urged people to stay away from election “dramas”.
Warning people against the ploy being played by the state administration, the resistance leadership said that through these elections they are hatching conspiracies to prolong “forced occupation” and said that for time being we have rescheduled the program and decided to concentrate on election boycott.
They said that after completing the 250th day of Intifada, the authorities have kick started election drama just to divert people’s attention from resistance movement.
Meanwhile, the leadership has called peaceful protest after Friday prayers on March 17, against the killing of an innocent baby and critically injuring her brother in a shootout at Kupwara and said that it is the outcome of recent threat statement of Indian army chief.
Blaming Indian authorities for “bloodshed” in Jammu and Kashmir, the leadership paid their rich tributes to slain youth.
The spokesperson also criticized the police action against media men. Lamenting at police authorities for their highhandedness, he said that media personnel’s were delivering their professional duties and there is no legal or moral justification for thrashing these and mishandling the situation.
