Geelani decries Hurriyat leaders’ detention

OCCUPIED SRINAGAR: The Chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (G), Syed Ali Shah Geelani, has condemned the detention of Hurriyat leaders, terming it as the worst kind of state terrorism.

In a statement, Geelani condemned the continuous imprisonment of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Ghulam Nabi Sumji, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Ayaz Akbar, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Raja Mehrajuddin and Hafiz Bashir Ahmad Farooqi.

He also condemned the detention of dozens of activists, a Hurriyat handout said. “The mass illegal detention of the pro-freedom people is the worst kind of state terrorism. I express my concern over the re-arrest of and use of brutal force against the JKLF chief, Muhammad Yasin Malik, and the arrest of Hurriyat spokesman, Ayaz Akbar, and APHC chief organizer, Altaf Ahmad Shah, from their respective homes, Geelani said. 

The government was doing such things out of frustration, he added. “We were peacefully protesting against the evil designs of India of setting up of Sainik and Pandit colonies and the new industrial policy, but the government by exhibiting the worst kind of state terrorism and by imprisoning the pro-freedom leaders and activists in jails and houses has proved that they have surrendered before the RSS and will do whatever their masters will command them to do,” he said.

“We have to be united in the fight against the wicked policies of the communal forces, and for this we have to prepare ourselves on every front, and if we fail to do so then the Kashmiri nation will lose everything, and they will become strangers in their own land,” he added.

Geelani also condemned the inhuman and insulting treatment of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat senior leader, Maulana Hafiz Bashir Ahmad Farooqi, and Master Ali Muhammad Hajan, by police in Sumbal, the statement said.

Mirwaiz condemns re-arrest of Yasin Malik: The Chairman of Hurriyat Conference (M), Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has condemned the re-arrest of the JKLF Chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik, saying the government was frustrated over the united pro-freedom leadership.

“The re-arrest of Yasin Sahib and the harassment of his family and other residents of Maisuma show how frustrated the government is over the united pro-freedom leadership,” he said.  “This is also a proof of how the government is muzzling the voice of the freedom-loving people of Kashmir,” the Mirwaiz said.   “Such tactics will not weaken the resolve of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.

The Mirwaiz said that the government was now indulging in inhuman and undemocratic actions.   The Mirwaiz termed the raids on Malik’s residence, ransacking of his belongings, harassment of his family members, atrocities on the residents of Maisuma and imposition of curfew in the area as inhuman and immoral.

JeI, Javaid Mir denounce arrest of Malik, Hurriyat leaders: The Jammu and Kashmir Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and the JKLF (H) have denounced the government for its repressive policy of arresting the JKLF and Hurriyat leadership and activists.

“The action has no moral or legal justification and is quite against the basic democratic principles which the state falsely claims to uphold,” the JeI said in its statement. A JeI spokesperson, Zahid Ali, said, “In a real democratic setup everybody has a fundamental right to express their views and aspirations, and curbing this right by enacting and imposing the black laws like the PSA, AFSPA, etc., is one of the worst forms of dictatorship and imperialism, and Kashmir has been witnessing this type of governance since 1947.”

Zahid Ali further said that the Jamaat also denounces the police action against the protestors near the Jamia Masjid and firing of teargas shells inside the premises of the Masjid which is a blatant interference in the religious matters which is quite against the basic human norms.

The Chairman of the JKLF (H), Javaid Ahmad Mir, in his statement condemned the re-arrest of the JKLF Chairman, Mohammad Yasin Malik, and continuous detention of the APHC Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Shahid-ul-Islam, Hilal Ahmad War and other leaders. Javaid Ahmad Mir said, “The raids and ransacking at the residence of Engineer Hilal Ahmad War and injuries to his brother and nephew by police is not acceptable.”