SRINAGAR: A day after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said separatists in Kashmir have been “defeated and exposed”, the separatist leaders on Thursday hit back at Jaitley and called for a public rally in south Kashmir’s Anantnag town on December 15.
“Jaitley and his colleagues falsely presume to have defeated Kashmir freedom movement by military oppression and through NIA and ED raids. We challenge them to allow our peaceful activities in Kashmir so that the reality is established beyond doubt,” separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik said in a joint statement today.
Reacting to the statement of Jaitley, the separatist leaders have decided to start a series of political programs to “show their strength”.
“A public rally will be held on December 15 at Lal Chowk in south Kashmir’s Anantnag town. Similar public programs will also be held in north and central Kashmir especially in Srinagar also,” the separatist leaders said.
Terming the statement of Jaitley as “absurd”, they said describing “Kashmir movement” as sponsored and paid has been an “old ploy” of India, which always tries to negate “sacrifices and defiance” of Kashmiri people through these “ridiculous statements.”
“Any rational person would find talk of normalcy and peace in Kashmir as laughable when the region is witnessing an increasing build up of forces, particularly in southern districts and when force personnel are deployed in every nook and corner of the Valley. The discourse of normalcy and peace can only be promoted by the ‘colonial elites’ like Jaitley and his ‘proxies’ in Kashmir,” they said.
The separatist trio, who spearheaded over five month long unrest in the Valley last year, said by claiming that Indian army and forces have succeeded in suppressing Kashmir “resistance movement”, Jaitley is actually acknowledging the fact that India is keeping its “illegal occupation on Jammu and Kashmir through military and police might.”
Alleging that Indian army and police have turned J&K into a “hell” by killing, maiming and jailing people, they said, “Even ban has been imposed on mournings and seminars. By these measures, an artificial peace of graveyard is being implemented in Kashmir.”
“If Indian rulers presume that oppression unleashed by its forces has trampled resistance in Kashmir, then they should lift ban on political activities of the separatist camp. Suppressing peoples struggle by oppressive measures is not possible and Indian leadership should realize that it can never suppress or defeat Kashmiri resistance by military means,” the separatist leaders said.
They appealed people of Kashmir to observe shutdown on November 27 to protest against “military and police oppression” in south Kashmir and express solidarity with thousands of prisoners languishing in different jails within an outside state.