Geelani’s address in Delhi: Maqbool, Afzal’s mission will be achieved
All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Geelani Monday told a gathering in Indian capital New Delhi that mission of ‘Mohammad Maqbool Bhat and Mohammad Afzal Guru, hanged in Tihar jail’ will be taken to its logical conclusion.
The octogenarian resistance leader while speaking at Jantar Mantar during an event organized by Dal Khalsa over the Sikh riots that took place in 1984, said the people of Kashmir would continue their struggle till they achieve their mission.
He said whosoever would support right to self determination for Kashmir would find people of JK along their side. He maintained that the people of Kashmir have been fighting from the last six decades for their birth right that was itself promised to them by India at that time. “We want the fulfillment of the promises made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir by the then prime minister of India Pandit JawaharLal Nehru but the dissent of the people is being ruthlessly crushed by the military might,” the 85-year-old leader said.
While reiterating that his amalgam will continue to strive for the return of mortal remains of Maqbool Bhat and Mohammad Afzal Guru, he said that while one incident of Jalianwala Bagh was witnessed in India, scores have been so far witnessed by the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Terming the elections in Jammu and Kashmir a ‘military operation’, Geelani remarked: “Through this process, not only the relief and rehabilitation process was affected but also it added to the miseries of the flood ravaged people of Kashmir.”
He also castigated the authorities over launching a massive crackdown on the pro-freedom camp in valley. He said that the police have foiled the attempts of pro-freedom camp to carry out the relief and rehabilitation activities for the flood victims.
Geelani who spoke for around 45 minutes, also took a dig at the media houses, maintaining that the ‘biased; approach adopted by the electronic media vis-à-vis Kashmir has given rise to numerous misconceptions about the vexed issue. Geelani said that the role played by the media houses during the recent Kashmir floods was ‘criminal and partial’ and that what it displayed was far from the ground situation.
“It is a known fact that floods didn’t hit my residence and our area was safe from the fury but TV channels claimed that I was rescued by the army during floods- this is incorrigible,” Geelani said, adding that the people living in India must confirm themselves about the ground situation in Kashmir as the media never shows the real picture of the region.
The APHC chief said the claims of the army that it rescued the people are ‘incorrect’ while as reality is that people across the flood hit areas were saved by the local youth.