Police on Tuesday arrested Hurriyat (G) chairman, Syed Ali Geelani and Hurriyat (M) Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq outside their residences in the city when they tried to break the police cordon to move towards Anantnag.Geelani and Mirwaiz, who have been under house arrest in the backdrop of the ongoing unrest, tried to came out of residences to march towards Anantnag to make the ‘Chalo’ call successful.The Hurriyat leaders, including JKLF, had jointly appealed people to move towards Anantnag district for a rally to be held there after the Zuhar (afternoon) prayers in remembrance of the civilians who were killed in the ongoing unrest.But police arrested them and detained them in Humhama and Nigeen police stations respectively.Before his arrest by police, Geelani spoke to media and said that struggle of Kashmiris will continue till the freedom is achieved. “The sacrifices of martyrs won’t go waste and nobody will be allowed to barter the sacrifices of youth,” he said.Praising the people of Kashmir especially youth for following the leaderships programmes, Geelani said, “Arrests, curfew and restrictions can’t weaken the ongoing freedom struggle.”
Terming the Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Kashmir and External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj's statement as meaningless, Hurriyat (G) chairman said that Kashmir issue is not a border issue but it is a human and a political issue and should be addressed politically.He appealed the teachers to voluntarily teach students at respective localities. “Teachers and educated youth should volunteer in their respective localities to hold classes for the children,” he said.Appealing government employees to follow the programmes, Hurriyat (G) chief said,” The government employees are the part of this society and I also appeal them to follow the programmes.”Geelani appealed to the world community to come forward for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute. “Not only Pakistan but the whole world should come forward and support Kashmiris for the ongoing struggle. (KNS)