Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who has been placed under house arrest since Friday evening, Saturday termed his arrest and imposition of restrictions on his peaceful political social and religious activities as “cheap dictatorial tactics on part of the so called government.”In a statement to KNS Mirwaiz said, “On one hand Kashmiris were murdered in cold blood, bullets were being showered on peaceful protesters and Mourners on the other authorities were using all means to crush the people staging peaceful demonstrations against the killings and grave injustices. By putting people and Hurriyat leadership in jails or imprisoning them in their houses, authorities were violating all the basic human and democratic values.”
The Hurriyat (M) chairman, who was scheduled to lead a protest sit-in before the UMOIGP office in Srinagar, against the killing of innocent civilians in Chattergam and Kulgam, along with entire Hurriyat leadership, said, “The peaceful programme was crushed by the authorities utilizing all undemocratic means.”Asserting that government was leaving no stone unturned to ‘suppress’ the voices of Kashmir, Mirwaiz said, “Such tyrannical step also depicts the frustration of authorities. Such steps also make it clear that there was no space for peaceful protests in Kashmir, neither Kashmiris are allowed to raise their voices against the gross atrocities committed by the state against them indicating that Jammu and Kashmir has been virtually turned into a police state.”
Mirwaiz said that ‘coercion and oppression’ can not in any way break the will of leadership to take the struggle forward.Meanwhile, Hurriyat spokesman condemned the house arrest of Mirwaiz and several leaders including Moulana Abbas Ansari, Agha Syed Hassan Al Moosvi, Mukhtar Ahmad Waza, Advocate Shahid-ul-Islam, Syed Salim Geelani and arrest of Engineer Hilal Ahmad War and Hakim Abdul Rashid in police stations.“Despite arrests and crackdown, several Hurriyat leaders including Yasmeen Raja, GN Zaki, GN Nagoo, Syed Bashir Andrabi, Jaffer Kashmiri, Riffat Ara, Gulshan Ara, successfully managed to reach Sonwar before the UNMOIGP office along with scores of people where they protested against the gross human rights violations and killing of common Kashmiris,” he said.