Srinagar
The resistance leaders including Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik have condemned and ridiculed the outrageous and dictatorial ordinance passed by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir which calls for imprisonment “for those who call and observe shutdown as a form of protest”.
The leaders stated that observing shutdown is a universally accepted democratic and peaceful right of protest and resistance and fixing a punishment for it reflects the totalitarian and repressive mindset of the “anti-people ruling regime”.
The leadership said that tall claims of “Healing Touch” and “Battle of Ideas” by Mehbooba Mufti and her party before coming to power, have all come to naught and instead she with her partner BJP have broken all records of committing atrocities and inflicting miseries upon the people of Kashmir.
They said that during her regime killings, blinding of people, arrests, imprisonment and detention of masses and leadership, arson, vandalisation of peoples properties, harassment, propaganda, onslaught and other forms of repression have touched a new low. “On the other hand she along with her coterie of opportunists have further eroded whatever was left of the safeguards of the people of the state by eroding the economic autonomy of the state through implementation of GST. As her tenure progresses so do her compromises with regard to the interests of the people of Kashmir who are under assaults from all fronts. “The situation has come to such a pass now that even the basic right to protest through shutdowns against these moves and constant assaults is now being denied and made punishable.”
The resistance leaders said issuing ordinance calling for imprisonment for shutdowns is with a view to instil fear of retribution and punishment among the resistance leadership and people of Kashmir in order to discourage them from raising their voice against oppression and for demanding their right to self-determination. “But like all such previous repressive measures it is bound to fail.
Shutdown is an accepted and acknowledged way of resisting oppression and injustice across the world and that it should stand clear that resistance leadership will continue with this right no matter how much government would try to choke our voice.”
