Riyaz ul Khaliq
SRINAGAR
Asserting that dialogue is the only way forward, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (m) chairperson, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, on the occasion of Eid suggested New Delhi to involve Pakistan and Kashmiris for “stability in the region”.
“Reluctance is no solution,” Mirwaiz told thousands of faithful who turned up for annual Eid-ul-Fitr prayers at Eidgah in Old Srinagar this morning.
Mirwaiz addressed faithful through cell phone as he was detained by police in his Nigeen residence since early dawn today thus he could not participate in the mandatory congregational Eid-ul-Fitr prayers.
“Indian leadership must talk to Pakistan and also involve Kashmiris in dialogue which will help stability in the region,” Mirwaiz said. He said that “resolution of Kashmir lies in the wishes and aspiration of Kashmiris”.
Lashing out PDP led J&K Government, he said that the government should take back the proposals of “Sainik and Pandit Colonies”; New Industrial Policy.
“We have rendered lakhs of sacrifices and we won’t deter from giving more to safeguard our identity,” he said.
Terming the present dispensation as “anti-Islam and anti-Kashmir”, he said, “government is directly interfering in our religious affairs by detaining resistance leadership.”
Castigating government over regulation of “Juma Khutba and snooping over clergy”, he said, “resistance leadership will sit and devise a policy against such a devastating step of spying over clerics.”
In his over 25-minute speech, Mirwaiz condemned the detention of Hurriyat patriarch Syed Ali Geelani and others. “Even buzarag rehnuma Geelani is not being allowed to move out of his home which signifies oppression in Kashmir,” he said.
As Mirwaiz ended his speech amid pro-freedom sloganeering, intense tear gas shelling was witnessed outside the Eidgah.
As Imam Hai led annual Eid prayers, the tear gas and flash bang shelling increased thus created uneasiness during Namaz.
After Eid prayers were over with post Namaz Khutba, youth resorted to stone pelting following which forces resorted to aerial firing. Even tear gas shells landed inside Eidgah.
Later, condemning the “brutal behavior of forces”, Mirwaiz in tweet on social networking site denounced use of force on Nimazees including women “by the armed forces and called it a shameless act by the authorities who did not spare innocent people” even on the auspicious day of Eid.
