Separatist leaders in Kashmir today asked protesters not to follow “chaotic thinking and actions” and assured them that their protest “programme” would continue.
The joint statement issued by the separatist trio – Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik – also appealed to the people to show “unity and discipline on immediate basis”.
“From our side, (protest) programme will continue at all costs,” the joint statement said. “Deal with the aggression of forces with unity. Maintain discipline at all costs. Save (yourselves) from chaotic thinking and actions,” the separatist trio said in their latest appeal.
The statement, which also advised people not to react over rumours, comes at a time when the ongoing unrest in the region has shown no sign of an immediate end as anger has mounted following the killing of at least 38 civilians.
Geelani and Mirwaiz, who head rival factions of separatist amalgam Hurriyat Conference, and Malik, who heads separatist group Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), have been attempting to take control of the spontaneous protests that left the region paralysed for the past week.
At least 38 civilians have been killed and several hundred injured as security forces cracked down on protesters, who threw stones and also attempted to ransack security installations, during the last eight days as unrest raged in the region following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani in a gunfight in south Kashmir.
The situation that followed Wani’s killing has remained so volatile and uncertain that there are no assurances from any quarter, including the government and separatists, about when and how the unrest will end.
The separatists have acknowledged that the ongoing unrest is largely out of their control. “Nobody is controlling the protests. People are protesting on their own,” Mirwaiz had told The Tribune in an interview yesterday.
Pro-freedom group ask protesters to avoid Chaotic thinking, Action
