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Saturday, November 20, 2010

Hurriyat’s new to Kashmiris: USA, Iran are on our side

Shutdown fails but Geelani says keep it up to have Kashmir in limelight

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Nov 20: Separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani today described continued shutdowns as the only means to keep the Kashmir dispute in limelight. While claiming that the world nations, including USA and Iran, were supporting the Valley’s “freedom struggle”---a claim made simultaneously by head of the Hurriyat’s rival faction Mirwaiz Umar Farooq---Geelani alleged that the government had “purchased” the transporters to fail his calls of strike.

Addressing a news conference at his Hyderpora residence, Geelani argued that observance of strikes and shutdowns had become a “necessity” for the Valley’s separatist movement as these were the only means to keep the Kashmir dispute in limelight to catch the world attention and empathy. Without directly admitting that his calls for shutdown had lost the steam and even today there was only a partial bandh in the Valley, Geelani alleged that the government had purchased the passenger transporters to fail the Hurriyat-sponsored strikes.

Barring shuttered shops in Srinagar civil lines and few other areas, where most of the business centres are the property of the state government, there was hardly any major evidence of a shutdown. Official as well as private transport, including small and medium modes of passenger transport and heavy commercial vehicles, operated throughout the Valley without regard for Geelani’s call. Shops were open in a number of localities in the capital city as also in major townships across the Valley, in sharp contrast to nearly total freeze Kashmir had witnessed for almost four months in the middle of current year. All government offices, private and government educational institutes functioned smoothly and reports said that attendance of the staff was thick.

Notwithstanding the public defiance Geelani’s calls have evoked of late, Chairman of the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference asked the Kashmiris to observe complete shutdown on two days in the next one week---on November 24th and 27th. He called upon the people to march to Eidgah Grounds in Srinagar after the Friday afternoon prayers on November 26th with a brick in everybody’s hand to lay the foundation of the “Wall of Resistance” at the cemetery of hundreds of “martyrs” who had been killed by the Indian armed forces and Police for their association with the “freedom struggle”.

Geelani argued that because of the current year’s six-month-long turbulence, that had stone pelting from protestors and firing from Police as key features, entire world had focused its attention on the Kashmir dispute. He claimed that many of the world powers, including USA, Islamic Republic of Iran, Norway and China, were now openly supporting the Kashmiris’ “freedom struggle”. He made a particular reference to the Iranian leader Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamnai’s recent statement and conveyed his gratitude to Teheran that it had audaciously supported the Kashmiris’ “freedom struggle” without caring for New Delhi’s displeasure. Geelani pointed out that even Russia was now pleading mediation over the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan.

[At a separately and simultaneously organized news conference, Chairman of so-called moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, made a similar claim and asserted that the world nations, including USA, Iran, China and Norway, were supportive of the Kashmir “freedom struggle”].

Defending his act of imposing an academic and economic breakdown on Kashmir, Geelani averred that in addition to 117 days of shutdown, observed in the Valley over his calls, government had enforced its declared and undeclared curfew for as many as 97 days in the last six months.

“Our options are now limited. We have reached a stage where we have got to either persist with the strikes or else surrender before India”, Geelani observed. According to him, passenger transporters had sold out themselves and they were continuing business in defiance of the Hurriyat call. He warned India of “unimaginably dangerous consequences” if New Delhi did not stop crackdown against the separatist leaders and the Kashmiris. He said that 1040 people had been arrested by Police who included 52 students and 35 separatist political activists detained under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) in the last five months.

Meanwhile, unruly youngsters, describing themselves as followers of the separatist leaders, attacked a passenger bus of government-controlled J&K State Road Transport Corporation (JKSRTC) near SKIMS Medical College in Bemina. It suffered extensive damage. However, none of the passengers was reported injured. A private school bus was subjected to a similar attack at Zaldagar in the capital city interior. Official sources said that two of the female teachers sustained injuries. They were later rushed to SMHS Hospital for medical treatment.

A violent clash occurred between demonstrators and Police when a top wanted stone pelter, namely Bilal Ahmed Fafoo, was arrested from his residential locality in Bemina-Parimpora outskirts. Sources said that eight persons, including three Police personnel, sustained injuries in the hour-long clash.

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