Commenting on the trend of educated Kashmiri youth taking up arms, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Chairman, Mirwaiz Dr. Moulvi Muhammad Umar Farooq Friday said this was a reaction to the oppressive policies adopted by Indian authorities in Kashmir and the continuous human rights violations at the hands of Indian forces.Addressing a massive gathering of people at Friday congregation at the historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, the Mirwaiz said these oppressive tactics had, in past also pushed the educated youth towards gun culminating in the armed resistance movement of 1990s.Stressing that Government of India had failed to learn from the 1990s and continued oppressive and suppressive tactics besides indulging in human rights violations, the APHC Chairman said all ways and means were being closed for the youth even today by pushing them towards the wall and using suppressive tactics against them.
Paying glowing tributes to the three youth, Ishaq Ahmad Parray, Asif Ahmad Mir, Ashiq Hussain Bhat, who were martyred in a gunfight with government forces at Dadsara Tral on Thursday, the Mirwaiz said people fighting for freedom cannot be made to give up their demand by suppression, violence and military.Stressing that excessive use of force had always proved to be counter-productive, the APHC Chairman said all the three youth martyred in the gunfight in Tral were highly intelligent and exceptional at studies.Terming the policy of pushing Kashmiri youth towards gun and then killing them, as a policy to wipe out the young generation of Kashmiries, the Mirwaiz said these killings were a direct result of New Delhi’s wrong policies on Kashmir.
Making it clear that Kashmir issue was not any economic issue that could be resolved alone by extending financial packages to Jammu Kashmir, he said it was an internationally accepted political issue, which needed a political solution.
Blaming Indian political leadership and Indian media for labeling Kashmiris as terrorists, the APHC Chairman said these people were not ready to open their eyes to the reality and see that people of Kashmir were fighting for their just rights.Urging people to be steadfast in carrying forward the ongoing resistance movement, the Mirwaiz said the sacrifices of life and properties of tens and thousands of people will not go waste.Appreciating people for being consistent in fighting for their right to self-determination, he said the situation in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria were witness that the peoples’ resistance movements cannot be suppressed for long by using oppressive tactics against them.He said Kashmir’s resistance movement was based on truth and principle of justice so oppression and suppression cannot, forever, stop them from achieving their rights.Welcoming the statement of the US Secretary of State for External Affairs, John Kerry, in which he had said that New Delhi and Islamabad had no option but to resolve Kashmir issue, the Mirwaiz said Kashmir attracting so much international attention and focus was a proof that the resistance movement of Kashmiries was being acknowledged internationally. (CNS)