Hurriyet Forum Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said that concerted efforts are being made to undermine the Kashmiri institutions and centers of identity especially the central Jamia Masjid, which has remained a politico-religious centre for Kashmir since long.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in a media interview in Srinagar said, “Since 1931, the people of Kashmir are engaged in a political struggle for the right to decide their political destiny and it is the youth of each generation since then who have been the forerunners of our struggle constantly striving for the achievement of this fundamental right and bearing its maximum brunt.”
He said as people’s demand for their fundamental right gets more and more shrill, the assault against them also gets harsher. “We are challenged from all sides be it they through machinations of changing our demographic composition by settling outsiders in the name of solider colonies, settlement of West Pakistan refugees and others or through exploiting our natural resources of water or through constantly eroding Article 370 or through legal recourse of using the judiciary to push us further to take over our territory and integrate us into mainland India,” he added.
The Mirwaiz paid glowing tributes to the youth for their sacrifices, valour and consistency during the past several months of the ongoing mass uprising. He said that it was because of their sacrifices that the freedom struggle was recognized the world over and the Indian government was under pressure to settle the Kashmir dispute while the international community had also understood the importance of its resolution for real peace and development of the region.
He appealed to the people, in general, and youth, in particular, to make all the programmes of the joint resistance leadership successful. He said that their support and coordination was necessary for ensuring that the Kashmiris get their right to self-determination for which so many people had rendered their lives.
