Geelani, Andrabi oppose Gulmarg NY events as ‘cultural aggression’
scribing the New Year celebrations as an act of “cultural aggression” aimed to disconnect Kashmiris from religion, society and its rich heritage, Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani and another separatist Asiya Andrabi on Tuesday asked the Kashmiri people to stay away from year-end festivities.
The separatists were reacting to Jammu & Kashmir tourism department’s programme of taking a musical event to Gulmarg on December 31st. A Bollywood musical fest ‘Rooh-e-Saaz’ is being organized to kick off the New Year 2016, with some popular voices from the film industry chipping in.
The event itself has been planned to attract more tourists to Kashmir which faced a bad 2015 courtesy last year’s floods and its aftermath, said tourism secretary Farooq Shah.
Geelani appealed to the people, especially the youth, to uphold their religious, cultural and moral values and not show a “slavish mindset”.
In a statement to the press, Geelani said Western culture is “now a rejected culture and the people of New York and Washington too are fed up with the vulgar and horrific actions of this culture”. This so-called modern civilization, Geelani said, has destroyed social organization and reduced human beings to the level of animals.
Geelani said despite centuries of slavery, the Kashmiri nation has always upheld its rich cultural tradition and behaved like a civilized society.
Asyia Andrabi, chairperson of Dukhtaran-e-Millat, said New Year celebrations are being organised under an agenda devised by the RSS to thrust upon Kashmir the “shameless and lewd culture of India”.