Srinagar: Joint Resistance Leadership on Friday castigated ruling alliance headed by PDP over frequent closure of schools, colleges, and universities in Kashmir Valley.
In a statement issued here, the JRL comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik also condemned what they termed anti-people ruling regime’s decision to once again covert downtown into a “military fortress” to bar Friday prayers at the historic Jamia Masjid for the third consecutive Friday.
“Caging or jailing resistance leaders and detaining pro-freedom activists while holding lakhs of people hostage in their own homes by sheer might, reflects the military mindset of the government as the only way to exercise control over a dissenting people and disputed territory,” they said in a joint statement issued here.
They said that come Friday and most of downtown is converted into a garrison, with huge deployment of police and paramilitary troopers in every nook and corner as well as concertina wires put to block all roads and alleys. “People are caged in their own homes and not allowed to move out to torment them and Friday congregational prayers disallowed at the central Jamia Majid and other adjoining mosques reflecting the complete apathy and disregard of those giving such orders towards the religious obligations and sentiments of the Muslims of the Valley.”
The leadership said that frequent closure of schools, colleges, and universities under the “bogey of law and order” was in actuality aimed to prevent students from expressing their concerns and resentment. “It is ridiculous and exposes the repressive regime further,” they said.
Expressing grave concern over the continuous house detention of Syed Ali Geelani, the JRL said that house confinement of veteran resistance leader since past many years was taking a serious toll on his health. Similarly, placing Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under frequent house detention including on Fridays when as Mirwaiz he delivers the weekly religious sermon to the devout at Jamia masjid is highly condemnable as is lodging Yasin Malik every now and then in central jail.
“This is a brazen ploy by the authorities to harass the leadership and prevent them from reaching out to the masses and being with them.”
They said that detaining dozens of resistance activists and workers day in and out and lodging them in various jails illegally just for their political beliefs is a move to create fear among the people to stop demanding their basic right, the right to self-determination. With a complete crackdown on resistance leadership and all those associated with it by the authorities miscreants and agencies are having a field day in committing crimes and harassing people. While killings , human rights violations, raids on people’s homes and vandalising them continues unabated as Leadership stands caged.
JRL said these “so-called” rulers in Kashmir have completely failed on all fronts. “On one hand, Kashmir is in the grip of lakhs and lakhs of forces and on other terror and fear has been unleashed upon people in the wake of serial braid chopping of women with police and authorities deliberately looking the other way and denying it.”
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