Srinagar, Dec 27: Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Wednesday termed the ban imposed by the Government on state employees and their family members from expressing opinion or reflecting their political views on social networking sites as “despotic”.
“It reflects their nervousness and desperation to suppress the truth about Kashmir and the aspirations of its people. It is also an acceptance by the repressive authorities with regard to what the popular sentiment of every Kashmiri citizen is that it wants to muzzle through such ridiculous gags”.
Mirwaiz said that the state employees are educated lot and important opinion makers of the Kashmiri society and choking their voice by issuing “dictatorial gags” was another form of state repression and the victims this time are the state employees.
In a statement, Mirwaiz said that government used to be claimants of being representatives of people have trampled upon every trace of anything that can be called democratic.
“All power flows through the barrel of the gun and its accompanying repression. All forms of resistance to this repression through protests of any kind stand banned and barred.”
Mirwaiz said whenever “repression” touches a new height and when the ‘cup of patience brims over’ and people take to streets they are greeted by bullets, batons, and deadly pellets.
He said that barring employees, who are a part and parcel of the society from raising their concern regarding the situation and the issues facing the people and their views on social networking sites can’t help the government to hide its failures, especially the reign of terror in various forms that it has let loose on the people of Kashmir.
He said irony was that the government order was not just applicable to the employees but also extends to the family members of the employees which clearly reflects that how low the government can stoop to muzzle and crush the genuine voices in Kashmir.
Mirwaiz termed the government’s diktat as repressive and anti-Kashmir stating that like all the “repressive moves” adopted by the successive governments in the past failed on ground, the fresh move will also meet the same fate as the affiliation of every segment of Kashmiri society towards the “freedom movement” runs deep.