Srinagar, March 01 (KNO) : Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik have strongly condemned the ‘authoritarian and arbitrary’ decision of Government of India banning Jamat-e-Islami J&K after a crackdown on its cadres and rampant arrests.
JRL in a statement issued to KNO said that Jamat e Islami has been running many schools and educational institutions across the valley as a socio-religious organisation for decades. “Post Pulwama attack, there has been a deliberate attempt to direct revenge against Kashmiri’s including attacks on students studying outside to mass arrests and crackdown, raids on homes of leadership and people across the valley to banning organisations and fiddling with 35A/370,” they said.
They said all this is being undertaken by the rulers in New Delhi in a sweeping and muscular manner by continuing with their Kashmir doctrine of force, to be seen as being tough on Kashmir and fulfilling their agenda over it in order to woo and consolidate their voters for electoral gains.
JRL said the way these authoritarian announcements are being made at night it looks very likely that the decision to remove 35 A/370 could also be made in this dramatic manner one of these days. JRL said “despite being under arrests and house arrest and in a difficult situation we are in touch with various segments of society the Bar association, traders, civil society and others to see how this assault will be resisted collectively by the nation.”
“People have to vigilant and ready to defend this great assault against us as it is a matter of our very existence. It’s a do or die for Kashmiri’s who have staked all in the last 70 years of our struggle for self-determination having made tremendous sacrifices. We cannot let the sacrifices go in vain,” they said.
Leadership said the ongoing India Pakistan escalation has once again confirmed to the world that unless the basic dispute of Kashmir is resolved the world is in imminent danger that a nuclear war can flare up anytime between two nuclear neighbours.
“The world has to wake up to this reality and pressurize India and Pakistan to talk and resolve the issue if it wants to avoid the danger of a war. Ours is a genuine and just struggle recognised by the international community and begging resolution for the past 70 years, instead we are being oppressed and intimidated,” they said.
JRL strongly condemned the lockdown of Jamia Masjid Srinagar and disallowing of Friday prayers and restrictions in most parts of the city. Meanwhile, protests were held after Friday prayers all across against banning of Jamat-e-Islami, illegal raids by NIA, continuous arbitrary arrests.
In this regard, JRL activists took out a protest rally at Lal Chowk Srinagar in which Noor Mohammad Kalwal, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, Mohd Rafiq Shah, Rameez Raja, Prof Javid, Imtiaz Ahmed, Fayaz Shakir and many others participated.(KNO)