Rejecting any possibility of submission or surrender before the “imperialism and military might”, Hurriyat (G) chairman, Syed Ali Geelani Friday termed “the fresh spurt in the character assassination campaign launched by the NIA, against the resistance leadership as a brazen plot to prolong the illegal and unjustified detention of the leadership”.
Hailing the “exemplary and praiseworthy” role played by DeM chairperson Syeda Asiya Andrabi and her family, Geelani condemned the “sinister designs” of NIA to lodge “baseless” case against her.
“It is the well-thought out ploy to defame leadership on flimsy and fabricated charges. This is a vicious character assassination campaign of NIA and it illustrates frustration of Indian authorities,” said Geelani. He “advised Indian authorities to take lesson from its own history of freedom struggle against the Britishers.”
Hurriyat (G) said history bears testimony to the fact that “any indigenous popular movement for right to self determination has never been defeated or eliminated by imperialistic forces whatsoever”.
While emphasizing “to shun path of vengeance, character assassination, of resistance leadership of high respect and dignity and to prolong their unjustified detentions’, he said, “It is better to resolve the long pending Kashmir dispute for peaceful and prosperous future of the sub-continent which has virtually turned a nuclear flash point.”
Geelani in his statement paid tributes to the “valuable and admirable sacrifices rendered by senior leaders of movement lodged in Tihar jail including Shabir Ahmad Shah, Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Peer Saifullah, Ayaz Akbar, Meraj-u-Din Kalwal, Shahid-ul-Islam, Nayiem Ahmed Khan, Shahid Yousuf, Muhammad Aslam Wani, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Zahoor Ahmad Watali, besides Masarat Allam Bhat, Muzaffar Ahmed Dar. Dr Mohammad Qasim Faktoo , Dr. Muhammad Shafi Shariati, Ghulam Qadir Bhat, Nazir Ahmed Sheikh, Mohammad Yusuf Mir, Tariq Ahmed Dar, Mansoor Ahmed, Mohammad Yousuf Falahi , Abdul Ghani Dar, Ghulam Mohammad Khan Sopori, Shakeel Ahmad Yato, Molana Sarjjan Barkati, Mir Hafeez-Ullah, Amir Hamza Shah, Abdul Rashid Mugloo, Siraj-u-Din, Farooq Ahmad Tawheedi and scores of other detainees languishing in different jails”.
The Hurriyat (G) leader also condemned the “arrest of Ab Rashid Dar (Pampore) in lieu of his son Javed Ahmad” saying that it is in no way a legal recourse.