Authorities foil pro-freedom leaders meet over NIA raids
Authorities on Monday prevented the pro-freedom leaders from holding a meeting at residence of Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani, placing several leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, under house arrest.
A posse of police personnel was posted outside Geelani’s residence at Hyderpora where the separatists leaders were to hold a meeting and later address a press conference, a police official said. He said no one was allowed to enter Geelani’s residence.
“Mirwaiz has once again been put under arrest since late Sunday evening. He was to attend the joint resistance meeting at veteran leader Geelani’s residence today,” a Hurriyat spokesman said.
“The anti-Kashmiri state resorted to its usual tactic of curbing the leadership, once again showing that Kashmir is ruled by the forces’ might,” he added.
JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik was taken into preventive custody and lodged at a police station in Srinagar. The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Monday disallowed a separatist meeting in Srinagar scheduled to discuss the fallout of last week’s raids by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
After separatist leaders Nayeem Khan, Farooq Ahmad Dar and Gazi Javaid Baba confessed to a TV channel that they had been receiving funds from Pakistan to foment trouble in Kashmir, the NIA registered FIRs to investigate the issue.
The NIA also carried out raids in Srinagar and Jammu city on Sunday. Some raids were also carried out in Delhi last week in this connection.
The Joint resistance leadership said that the scheduled meeting between them and members of business community was barred by the anti Kashmir ruling regime through force, while Syed Ali Geelani continues to be under house arrest and all roads leading to his house were firmly sealed.
The leadership said that post Friday prayers peaceful protest will be held across the valley against the witch hunt coercion and intimidation of resistance activist’s leaders and members of business community.
“People will also strongly protest the Indian electronic medias propaganda war against Kashmiri’s and its shameless attempt to discredit people’s freedom struggle.’’
The joint leadership said not allowing them to meet has become the norm for the state authorities who have to keep up the farce of “normalcy ” through repression at the bidding of their masters in New Delhi otherwise they will be ‘shown the door by them’.
The joint leadership said that people and leadership are and will continue to pursue their movement for right to self determination till it is achieved.
Referring to the raids being conducted by the Indian agencies Joint leadership said such moves to intimidate and harass pro freedom leaders and activists is Government of India’s acceptance that it has not been able to politically defeat the people’s struggle for freedom in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Government of India has completely failed in crushing the people’s revolt, despite its largest military concentration in the world in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, who have unleashed a reign of terror and torture upon the people for the past seven decades inflicting untold miseries upon the masses. Yet all repressive means and methods adopted to defeat or subdue the people’s and leaderships unflinching resolve and commitment to their struggle for freedom have miserably failed. Kashmirs are defiant. They have made up their mind that they will get their fundamental right even if they are killed blinded tortured maimed made to disappear jailed detained terrorized harassed beaten or humiliated , as is the norm in the valley. They will not be terrorized into submission,’’ said the statement.
“The chief of the Indian army openly said that “the army is here to instill fear in the people “as his political colleagues in power endorsed that “all is fair in war “and “it is the discretion of the army to take action as they deem fit in the war zone of Kashmir.”
“After these brazen admissions of being at war with unarmed civilian population of Kashmir and all being fair in such an unequal war ,it comes as no surprise that this government can stoop to any level or employ any bullying means to intimidate pro freedom activists and leaders and traders in order to shift focus from the people’s revolt against occupation and their insistence on getting their fundamental right. And in order to maintain the status quo as GOI does not wish to deal with the issue at hand while making all out efforts to malign and sideline the resistance leadership. The high decibel propaganda rather vilification campaign and the prejudices and biases being promoted against the people of Kashmir, the leadership the business community ,the youth or even the students now ,through most Indian electronic media whose interests are backed by the Government of India and many of who are on the pay roll of their agencies is part of the aggressive strategy adopted to undermine and weaken the people’s movement and distort the narrative of the Kashmir dispute in order to mislead.
KV Correspondent
