‘When GoI Could Push The Most Popular And Towering Kashmiri Politician Like Sheikh Abdullah To The Wall, Then What Is The Worth Of Hurriyat (M)’

Tariq Naqash

(from greaterkashmir.com)

Muzaffarabad, Jan 20: An alliance of Kashmiri militant groups has rejected the call of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to give up armed struggle to pave the way for fruitful negotiations for a lasting settlement of Kashmir issue.

The militant leaders have been shocked by the baseless and uncalled for statement of Mirwaiz and his colleagues who are ignorant of the background and realities of Kashmir issue,” said a spokesman for the United Jihad Council (UJC) in a statement here on Saturday.

“The statement of Mirwaiz may please some Western circles and Indian leaders, but it cannot change the ground realities,” he added.

The militant leaders, he said, had made it clear time and again that only a “strongly coordinated state-wide” armed struggle, enjoying the patronage of sincere, robust and representative (political) leadership, could take the freedom movement to its logical end.

“A freedom movement can weaken due to any temporary defeat, it can also grow longer than the anticipated time but it can never die down unless the freedom seekers surrender themselves before the tyrants out of spinelessness,” the spokesman said.

He also rejected the reported statement of Mirwaiz that UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir had become redundant and said people saying such things appeared to have forgotten the fact that these resolutions made Pakistan a party to the Kashmir dispute.

“The people who make mock of the issue’s recognised status as well as the sacrifices of Kashmiris have no right to take any decision or give suggestions on Kashmir…”

The spokesman recalled that the people of Kashmir had taken up arms against their will after failure of their peaceful political and diplomatic struggle spanning over 42 years.

During the ongoing armed struggle and prior to that, he said, “nearly 475,000 people laid down their lives for the noble cause of freedom while material losses worth billions of rupees and other inhuman atrocities unleashed by the occupying forces are in addition to that.”

“These unmatched sacrifices were not offered for self rule, internal autonomy or for that matter for an irrelevant ceasefire line (Line of Control) but for the Kashmiris’ internationally acknowledged and inalienable right to self determination,” he said, adding, “those who have turned a blind eye towards these sacrifices and are showing signs of retreat have no right to lead the nation.”

“If Mirwaiz and other leaders of his like have become tired, disenchanted or hopeless about the future of freedom struggle due to adverse circumstances, we suggest them to sit back in their homes to lead a life of comfort. But they should not teach the lesson of cowardice and hopelessness to the caravan of freedom seekers,” he said.

The spokesman said the people of Kashmir had proved by observing a state-wide strike on Jan 17 that they could not back out from their sacred mission and that they were instead prepared to shed the last drop of their blood to achieve this goal.

He said Mirwaiz knew well that he could not secure release of even two detainees from New Delhi during the several rounds of talks with Indian leaders while showing unilateral flexibility and deviation from the traditional stand of Kashmiris.

“When the Indian government mercilessly could push the most popular and towering Kashmiri politician like Sheikh Abdullah to the wall, then what is the worth of this group of people who have conflicting views and interest,” he said of the moderate leaders.

The militant leaders, according to the spokesman, had expressed serious desire that all ‘sincere political leaders’ should unite to achieve the Kashmiris’ right to self determination because friction and differences among them had caused irreparable losses to the freedom movement.
“Still there is time for political leaders to rise above their personal and organisational egos and interests and launch joint struggle for right to self determination and freedom. Otherwise there will be no space for them in the chapters of history.”

Copyright and courtesy of Greater Kashmir. com [link]
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