Srinagar, December 22 (KNO) : Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik have denounced the policy of killing and repression adopted by authorities and said that the bloodshed at the hands of government forces amounts to ‘systematic genocide of Kashmiris’.
In a statement issued to KNO, leadership cautioned that “attempt by authorities through use of force and coercion to bent people of Kashmir on their knees and force them to give up their genuine struggle, nurtured by the sacrifices of lakhs of martyrs, will only further deteriorate the already deteriorated situation on the ground.”
Paying tributes to the slain armed youth killed in an encounter with the forces at Awantipora, the leadership said that “it is the extreme repression and suffocation which pushes young generation to a path of taking up arms and lay down their precious life.”
“Day in and day out youth feel suspect as they are summoned to Police Stations where they are harassed and tortured. Every day youth become the target of killing by forces anywhere in the valley and there is no accountability from the killers,” they said.
“The killing of their friends relatives neighbors with impunity frustrates them further and all this adds up to their anger forcing many to take this path. Besides, no political space is provided by the state for youth to express their sentiments and aspirations,” they said.
JRL said that it is the ‘dictatorship and arrogance’ of government and its reluctance to engage in a peaceful resolution of Kashmir dispute, which is responsible for killing of the Kashmiri’s especially youth, however, the sacrifices rendered by young for their inalienable right of self determination are unforgettable.
“On the basis of its huge military presence and structures that government of India each day writes a new chapter of bloodshed in Kashmir and the way the people of Kashmir especially the youth are being made target of a systematic war exhibits the antipathy of government of India towards people of Kashmir,” JRL added.
JRL said, “Time and again, we reiterate that Kashmir is a human issue which can’t be resolved using military might but through political means based on the principals of justice and humanity.”
The leadership said it is, however, regrettable that the leadership of India only talks through the barrel of gun. They appealed the people to offer Jinaza prayers in absentia in mosques, Khankhas and Imam Baras on Sunday 23rd Dec 2018 for these slain and also pray for the freedom of Kashmir. (KNO)