The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) on Wednesday said that the “Operation All-Out” launched by the government forces in May this year to wipe out militancy was also aimed at forcing the pro-freedom leadership into submission.
The JRL, comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik, also said that there has been no shift in New Delhi’s Kashmir policy. Instead, they said, New Delhi has unleashed a “reign of terror” in Kashmir, terming the recent assault on Kashmiri prisoners at Tihar Jail “part of a game plan aimed at muzzling genuine dissent.”
The three leaders were speaking at a Seerat Conference organised by Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, which is a constituent of Geelani-led Hurriyat Conference.
In his speech, Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani said, “Oppression has touched new heights in Kashmir and there seems to be no end to it.
In these circumstances, the only two options we have is either to migrate or fight the oppression. Since migration is not possible for us we will have to rise to the occasion and fight against the oppression.”
Condemning what he called as the “brutal assault” on several prisoners at New Delhi’s Tihar Jail, he said, “The situation is prisons of Kashmir and Jammu regions is similar to that of Tihar Jail. Our prisoners in these jails are not safe.”
Geelani added: “To migrate to any other place seems impossible as the fate of Rohingya Muslims is well before our eyes. New Delhi’s conspiracies to make us surrender are underway and they need to be dealt with steadfastness and unity. We will not surrender come what may and will fight till the end of Delhi’s forcible control on Kashmir.”
He also urged the people of Kashmir to follow the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
Talking to Kashmir Post on the sidelines, Geelani said that Delhi has been lacking seriousness about Kashmir for the past 70 years and appointment of interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma would hardly make any difference.
“Not even a single step has been taken so far and instead pain is being inflicted on every Kashmiri by one or the other way,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, chairman Hurriyat Conference (M) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq lashed out at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for not being able to resolve the issues confronting the Muslims across Kashmir.
“The OIC has not been able to resolve the long pending issue of Palestine let alone Kashmir,” Mirwaiz said. He said that while as old disputes like Palestine and Kashmir remain unresolved, new disputes are taking birth as being seen in the case of Yemen.
Condemning the assault on the Tihar prisoners, Mirwaiz said, “Even animals aren’t treated the way dozens of prisoners were roughed up. This is the height of repression as even prisoners aren’t feeling safe inside the four walls of fortified prisons,” he said.
Mirwaiz said that fresh reports coming from Kathua prison suggests that another prisoner was badly thrashed and later labelled as “mentally unsound.”
Without mentioning Delhi’s point man’s name, Mirwaiz said all claims of the Government of India about reconciliation “have proved fake and futile.”
“Instead conspiracies were being hatched by Delhi to pressurise Kashmiris including the Hurriyat leadership to capitulate,” he said.
The Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman said that Delhi lacks seriousness vis-a-vis resolving the long pending issue of Kashmir.
“What we have observed so far is deception, lies and conspiracies from Delhi against Kashmiris,” he said.
In his address, JKLF chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik said that all the controversial issues were raked up by Delhi itself and later imposed on Kashmiris.
“Issues like Sainik Colony, a separate township for Kashmiri Pandits, or state subject laws, Article 35-A were raised and imposed on us. Ever since the ruling regime in New Delhi took the reins, persecution of Kashmiris in one or the other way started,” he said.
Malik said, “The Operation All-Out was not only started to kill militants but to instill fear among the pro-freedom leaders, activists and workers to make them bow before Delhi’s military might.”
“The aim of the operation was to make us surrender and to break the unity among the leadership. But we will remain united and won’t surrender no matter how much more atrocities and pain are inflicted upon us,” he said.
Malik said that under the garb of cordon and search operations, the entire population of southern and northern areas of the Valley, including women and children, was being forced to suffer freezing temperatures in the open.
Malik said that unity among the pro-freedom leadership will remain intact and no one will succeed in breaking it.
Taking a dig at civil society members who have of late started paying floral tributes on the grave of Robert Thorpe, a half-Kashmiri British official who had recorded the brutalities of Dogra monarchy, Malik said, “Why is the contribution made by people like Ghulam Muhammad Mir, Dr Abdul Ahad Guru, Farooq Ahmed Ashai and others towards freedom struggle being ignored.”
“Let those who shower follower petals on the grave of Thorpe, follow suit in the cases of other great contributors, whose contribution towards freedom movement can’t be overshadowed,” Malik said.
The seminar was also addressed by Moulana Moinul Islam, Moulana Altaf Hussain Nadvi and others while as Tehreek-e-Hurriyat general secretary Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai was placed under house arrest early morning. On the occasion, pro-freedom activists that include Hakim Abdur Rashid, Muhammad Yusuf Nadeem, Imtiyaz Ahmad Shah, Imran Ahmad Khawaja, Noor Muhammad Kalwal, Syed Muhammad Shafi, Muhammad Salim Zargar, Muhammad Yasin Ataie were also present there.
‘Operation All-Out’ aimed at forcing us into submission: Joint Resistance
