‘Hurriyat will elect my successor through consultation process after my death’
• Kashmir is an internationally recognized dispute
• JK should not be brought under NEET
• Handwara girl should be released
Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani Monday said that he would continue to lead the party and the separatist conglomerate and sis successor would be appointed only after his death.
“I would continue to lead as head of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat as well as Hurriyat Conference (APHC),” Geelani said while addressing a press conference at Hyderpora residence, here.
He said, “My party, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, knows what to do after my death”.
86-year-old ailing Geelani said the Hurriyat Conference also knows what to do after his death. “They will elect my successor through the consultation process,” he said.
There were speculations today that Geelani may announce his close aide and longtime friend Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai as his successor.
Geelani is not keeping well and in March this year, he suffered a mild heart attack in New Delhi.
The Hurriyat (G) chairman has been mostly under house arrest in Srinagar since 2008.
While referring to National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), Geelani said the state should not be brought under the NEET for admissions in medical colleges.
“The step is another conspiracy of the PDP-BJP government to change demography of the state. After conducting exams via NEET, the government will send and appoint the doctors from outside the state to treat the patients here,” he said.
The Hurriyat (G) chairman alleged that Government of India (GoI) is acting against the special status of the State and abrogating its status by targeting educational institutions like National Institute of Technology.
He said the recent controversy erupted in NIT College after the Government of India (GoI) has successfully changed its demography by turning local Muslim students as a minority in the engineering college.
Taking a dig on the PDP-BJP government, Geelani said, “The state government is working on behalf of Hindutva elements and is taking directives to change the overall demography of Jammu and Kashmir.”
Geelani said the recent statement of UN official over Kashmir issue is against the aim and mission of United Nations itself.
He also reiterated his call for implementation of 18 UN resolutions on Kashmir.
The UN peace had said that Kashmir issue will be resolved in the context of the local domestic political environment between Pakistan and India.
Geelani sad Kashmir issue is not a border issue. “It is a human issue involving more than 1 Crore people.”
While responding to a query over the statement of India’s MoS External Affairs General (Retd) V K Singh in which he had said that Hurriyat leaders are citizens of India and there is no bar on their meetings with representatives of any country in India, Geelani said, “Kashmir is international accepted dispute, which has also been accepted by India. Our birth right has been promised to us at International level and UN resolutions from basis of our struggle.”
He appealed people to make his party and the trust he heads strong.
On Handwara girl, who is under protective custody of police, Geelani said despite facing molestation, the Handawara girl continues to remain under police custody.
“The girl should be released soon,” he said.
He said unfortunately in Handwara, FIRs have been registered against the employees and protestors instead of the force personnel involved in the killing of civilians including a woman and the army man involved in molestation of the minor girl.
He also said that forces in Jammu and Kashmir are constructing concrete buildings in the state, which indicates that they have full plan to settle in Kashmir.
