KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Terming the ban on Muharram processions, use of brutal force against the mourners and detaining them in police stations as interference in the religious affairs and worst kind of “state terrorism”, Hurriyat patriarch Syed Ali Geelani Saturday condemned it in strong words.
He said, “the government not only provides every kind of facilities on the occasions of the Amarnath Yatra and other festivals of the Hindu brothers but they move the entire state power in security of these events.”
Geelani who is undergoing house detention since he returned from New Delhi added, “contrary to that the same government places extraordinary restrictions when it comes to the special days or festivals of the Muslims which proves that the so-called secularism of India is just a fraud and this country is having biased treatment with the Muslims and they are treated as second class citizens.”
He said, “the Jammu & Kashmir is although a Muslim majority state and it also has a Chief Minister with Muslim name but actually this state is ruled by Indian home ministry and without their consent nothing happens here.”
The octogenarian Hurriyat leader lashed out at state police that instead of acting as a law enforcing institution, they are working as “personal employees of the rulers and to appease them, they are insulting and using violence against their own people”. “This institution has damaged its image and instead of working as protectors of the life and properties of the common people, it is acting as a ‘Gunda force’,” Geelani alleged.
In his Ashura message, Geelani said, “the life of Imam Hussain (Peace be upon him) is a guiding principle for the Muslims especially for those brave hearts who are at war with the oppressors and evil forces. There is a clear and open message for the Kashmiri nation that they have to show steadfastness and firmness in the fight against the forced occupation of India in Kashmir and do not support or vote the evil forces in any way because vote amounts to the Bayah (shaking hands) and a Muslim cannot vote or shake his hand with the evil or hypocrite.”
