Chairman Hurriyat (M), Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who has been placed under house arrest by the authorities for the past four days ahead of the visit of Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, Saturday condemned imposition of curfew and use of excessive force and military might to scuttle the ‘Million March’ programme. He thanked the people for observing a complete shutdown against it.Mirwaiz said the visit of the Indian Prime Minister yielded nothing except for the fact that Kashmir was turned into a military garrison, entire population kept hostage, curfew imposed leaders detained and youth arrested.He said Hurriyat (M) has time and again, made it amply clear that Kashmir is a political and a human issue for which its people are giving tremendous sacrifices and that it was not an economic problem which could be addressed by announcing monitory packages or economic incentives.
He said if the Prime Minister of India and GoI wanted to reach out towards the people of Kashmir, they needed to be realistic, show political maturity and courage and address the Kashmir dispute once and for all through meaningful dialogue involving people of Kashmir, New Delhi and Islamabad or by implementing international agreements on Kashmir.Mirwaiz said history is witness to the fact that no nation that strives for its freedom and rights has ever been cowed down by military oppression or lured into submission by extending economic and monitory benefits.
He said the Indian rulers and politicians need to realize this reality that people of Kashmir would continue to strive for their rights until the issue is not addressed in accordance to their wishes and aspirations and that only would lead not only the people of Kashmir but the entire region of South Asia region towards economic and political stability, development and prosperity.Meanwhile, an Hurriyat (M) spokesman has strongly condemned arrests of hundreds of youth, political workers and house arrest of Hurriyat (M) Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other resistance leaders. He said these tactics had been used in the past too but have miserably failed to break the will of the people or cow them down or force them to give up their struggle for freedom. (KNS)