‘Coalition just a puppet regime; Police taking diktats directly from Centre’
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
SRINAGAR, Jan 10: Separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani today dismissed the National Conference- Congress coalition government as a puppet regime and claimed that Police were taking diktats directly from New Delhi so as to continue “excesses and atrocities” on the Kashmiris. After a month-long hustle and bustle in the Valley, Geelani has also called for a total shutdown in Jammu & Kashmir on January 15th.
Unceremoniously marginalized at the end of five-month-long mass agitation in the Valley, Syed Ali Shah Geelani held a well attended news conference at his Hyderpora residence. Building maximum possible pressure on the state authorities for seeking release of political detainees, particularly High Court Bar Association President Mian Abdul Qayoom and Dukhtaraan-e-Millat Chairperson Asiya Andrabi, appeared to be the main objective of the Hurriyat (G) patriarch.
While addressing the news conference, Geelani alleged that Police were persisting with their “reign of terror” in the Valley as there was no accountability in the law enforcing authorities. He said that Police and other security agencies were relentlessly committing excesses and atrocities on the hapless Kashmiris, notwithstanding an uneasy calm. He asserted that Police were directly taking diktats from the Union Home and Defence Ministries, without regard to the state authority.
“National Conference’s Working Committee passed the resolution of releasing all political prisoners in the month of July last year. It has been summarily rejected and treated with contempt by the Government of India”, Geelani said. He further pointed out that even the public declarations of the Centre’s J&K interlocutors had not resulted in the release of the political prisoners. He alleged that jail authorities were meting out inhuman treatment to the detained separatist activists in brazen violation of all jail manuals.
Lashing out at Police and security forces further, Geelani said that these agencies were leaving no stone unturned to revive armed insurgency that, according to him, provided the strongest justification for presence of huge size of troops in the state. He claimed that current drawing room slogan of “khoon ka badla June mein lenge” was the creation of Police and other government agencies who, he insisted, had developed vested interest in the bloody turbulence. He alleged that Police had discovered a “gold mine” in arresting Kashmiri youth and subsequently releasing them against cash payments.
“So many youngsters tell me that the Government was not allowing them to continue their political activity through democratic means. But, I always caution them against falling in the trap of the Government agencies who desperately want guns to roar”, Geelani asserted. “It’s all part of a well planned strategy”, he added. He claimed that constituting panels and fielding interlocutors were exercises in futility as none of them had mandate to resolve the real political dispute. “We will live on leaves of the trees but will never compromise on the Indian occupation in Jammu & Kashmir”, Geelani asserted.
Asked about BJP’s plans of hoisting the Indian national flag on the Clock Tower in Lalchowk on occasion of the Republic Day on January 26th, Geelani said that it was no act of gallantry to do it under the protection of one million troopers. He asked people of all parts of the state to observe total shutdown against “continuing excesses and atrocities” by Police and security forces on January 15th. This type of calls from Geelani, as also from Muslim League activist Massarat Aalam, who was finally arrested in September last year, had frozen the Valley for five long months from June to October 2010.
However, the situation changed dramatically in the months of September and October, following which Geelani’s shutdown calls had very limited impact. He has also abandoned his weekly shutdown calendars that were the main feature of last years’ mass agitation in Kashmir .
END
No comments:
Post a Comment