Mohammad Raafi
SRINAGAR
Hurriyat Patriarch Syed Ali Geelani Wednesday castigated the Mufti Sayeed government for unleashing arrest spree and said that the state is being run at the “behest of brute force”.
Geelani was addressing a press conference at his Hyderpora residence.
Lambasting the Mufti’s “Battle of Ideas”, the octogenarian leader said that Mufti has unleashed terror in every nook and corner of the state and has left no stone unturned to stay in power.
“Mufti, when not in power, had promised of providing political space to all shades of opinion, however soon after coming into power, he has trampled the voices of Hurriyat leadership and Youths across the state,” he said.
Geelani said that 72 draconian PSAs (Public Safety Act) have been slapped on political workers of Hurriyat and other youth since Mufti took over as the “puppet” CM of the state. “14000 people mostly teenagers and political workers have been detained under FIR’s only since 2009.”
The Hurriyat Chief said that since this past November, 12 leaders and political activists have been detained under PSA.
Geelani lambasted Mufti for slapping another PSA on incarcerated Muslim League chairperson and senior Hurriyat leader Masarat Alam Bhat.
While terming the move as an act of “state terrorism”, Geelani said that the authorities smacked PSA on Aalam, presumably to stop his release from the jail.
“This is for the 31st time since 1990 that a PSA has been slapped on the incarcerated leader,” he said. Masarat Aalam was arrested in April this year for raising a slogan (in favour of Pakistan) in Srinagar and was taken to Kot Balwal jail.
“Court this year ordered shifting of Masarat to a Srinagar jail. However government snubbed the court directive and illegally detained Masarat in Kot Balwal jail.”
Geelani said the government has started an arrest spree across Kashmir by detaining political leaders and youths.
The octogenarian leader said that the government is arresting youth and political leaders on flimsy grounds and lodging them in different jails and police stations across the state. He termed it a “human rights violation”.
“I appeal the human rights organisations to take a strong note of the human rights violations in the state and help Kashmiris to put an end to it.”
The senior Hurriyat leader said that the Mufti Govt is even denying seminar’s on Islam.
“We had proposed a seminar on Islam, Denouncing Terrorism, but the preachers of ‘battle of ideas’ didn’t allow it to take place and even detained dozens of Hurriyat activists to foil the seminar.”
Geelani on the occasion also condemned the act of terrorism in France that killed more than 130 people.
“Islam in no way promotes terrorism.”
“Killing innocents to take revenge of something that they didn’t do is terrorism,” Geelani said while reacting to the attacks of France in Syria.
Geelani said whatever is happening in Palestine, Iraq and Syria are worst forms of terrorism. “Whatever is happening in Kashmir is also a form of ‘Indian state terrorism’,” he said.
