Srinagar: Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq who continues to be under house arrest commenting on burning of educational institutions said that no one needs to be told about the importance of education and instead of sermonizing and politicizing about the issue the question that needs to be answered is who is behind this burning and why is it being done.
In a statement issued to Kashmir Today Mirwaiz said that every inch of Kashmir soil and every person in Kashmir is under surveillance. There are over with 7 lakh troops on ground and a huge police presence in every nook and corner of the valley. In such a security scenario is it possible that burning of schools will take place in such a systematic and frequent manner and the government forces and intelligence agencies would not be in know of the culprits to be able to nab them, when they have in the past four months in a pin pointed manner arrested more than 15000 youth in the people’s uprising for so called anti state activities. Mirwaiz said that too when government forces themselves are stationed in many schools across the valley.
Mirwaiz said that such mischievous acts are part of the diversionary plan to shift focus from dealing with the actual issue on the ground and further harass and distress people. He said to shift focus, first war hysteria was created in the region and the Kashmir problem was externalized and now when the focus is again shifting towards the problem on ground, school burning has become the new disturbing focus.
Mirwaiz said on one hand this government is beating its chest over burning of schools as it is greatly concerned about the “education of students “and on the other hand it is harassing and tormenting students into forcibly taking exams when they are repeatedly demanding they they be deferred for some time, keeping in view the trauma that they are going through due to the oppression faced by the nation in the last four months.
Meanwhile, an Hurriyat (M) spokesman strongly denounced and condemned the brutal violence and barbarism unleashed by government forces on the peaceful protestors at Rohama Pulwama, Shopian, Bandipora, Anantnag and Sopore by firing pellets and bullets at them, resulting in critical injuries to dozens, including blinding of three students.
Stressing that people were being dealt with brutal force whenever and wherever they try to bring out protest demonstrations and marches on the call of the unified resistance leadership while the government forces were continuing nocturnal raids, beating up inmates, ransacking household items and arresting youth and their family members, the spokesman said this was a challenge for the international rights bodies and emancipated nations of the world and urged them to take note of these brutal atrocities and come to the rescue of Kashmiris.