Expressing his deep sorrow and dismay over the killing of a polling officer in Shopian, chairman Hurriyat Conference (G), Syed Ali Geelani expressed his sympathy with the bereaved family and condoled the demise.According to a statement issued he said that the election in Jammu and Kashmir are actually a practical military operation and government employees are forcibly included into this military operation which doesn’t have any moral or legal justifications and it is also a grave human rights violation.Geelani said that as there is a huge presence of Indian forces in the shape of 7.5 lakh army, paramilitary forces and police, so government should select its polling staff among these police and other forces and the civil employees should not be dragged into this military exercise.He said that the election drama in Jammu and Kashmir is held in war like situation and the government employees are forcibly involved in this game, which is excess with them and it doesn’t have any justification. “The government employees are held hostage which is totally against the international laws.”While expressing his sympathy with bereaved family of polling officer Zia-ul-Haq, Geelani also advised the government employees that they should resist their forced selection or deployment and if the government will further force them, they can fight it out in the judiciary also.
Expressing pleasure over the election boycott of our Pandit and Sikh brothers in first phase of election drama, Geelani said that due to the long pending Kashmir dispute, Muslims as well as non-Muslims brothers of Jammu and Kashmir are facing lot of difficulties and troubles day in and day out and these non-Muslim brothers are also trapped in political instability situation.He said that the solution of Kashmir dispute should be on the basses of right to self-determination in which every inpidual of entire Jammu and Kashmir including Ladakh, Jammu, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan and of any religion cast or creed, will be given a chance to express his choice and whatever the result will be, we are bound to accept that.
Geelani said that the decision of Pandit and Sikh brothers to support the Muslim brothers in election boycott have proven that the Kashmir dispute is not any communal issue. This is the issue of future of 13 million people including the minorities of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhists and Christen brothers.“India has forcibly occupied this region with its military might and she is back-tracking its promises including the promises of plebiscites to be held in Jammu and Kashmir, which she has made in at national as well international forums.”
Geelani further said that the minorities of Jammu and Kashmir are our brothers and they are like our body parts and we will never leave them alone at any situation and in anyway. While terming the expressions of the Pandith brothers residing in Islamabad (Anantnag), as a token of pleasure for him, the pro-freedom leader said that ‘I would have visited them many times, if I were not continuously detained from 2010 at my home’.Geelani said that if any non-Muslim brother is facing any difficulty or issue in which we can help them, they are most welcome here any time without any restriction. We will get great pleasure in helping them because it is our religious, national and moral responsibility and duty to help them in every situation and at any stage. Geelani expressed his hope that our non-Muslim brothers will also boycott the next phase of election drama and will stand in support of their Muslim brothers by staying away from the polls.