–APHC chairman says there’s no alternative, but to fight with full determination
— Kashmiri veteran leader urges Pakistan, Muslim Ummah to help besieged Kashmiris
–Geelani calls upon Indian government officials to ‘stand up and protest’ against ‘humiliation’ inflicted upon them by Indian govt
ISLAMABAD: As Kashmir reels after the abrogation of its special status, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Chairman Syed Ali Geelani has appealed to Kashmiri people living in occupied Kashmir to put up a fight against Indian oppression in the occupied region, while urging the Kashmiris living outside the region to highlight the Indian atrocities
The APHC chief, in his first official statement since the scrapping of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir by India on August 5, said that there was no other alternative but to fight with full determination.
“India should know that even if they bring their entire armed forces into occupied Jammu and Kashmir, even then the people of Jammu and Kashmir will not abandon the struggle for their rights and liberation,” he added.
“We must fight the enemy in unison. History remains witness to the fact that big military powers have repeatedly perished in front of the force of peoples’ unity and truth. Courage, patience, and discipline are those weapons of defenceless people which can defeat the enemy with howsoever enormous an arsenal,” he wrote, urging the locals to put up a fight against the Indian state.
‘GAGS ON LOCAL MEDIA’:
The APHC chairman lamented that the entire region has been transformed into a prison.
“Even as we continue to receive immensely grim news from every corner, the Indian state has made extensive efforts to hide their campaign of brutal repression from the outside world. Not only have they blocked the entire communication systems used by common people since the start of this month, but they have also gagged local media without any formal declaration,” he said.
Criticising the rampant censorship amid a severe clampdown, the veteran leader said the due to the government’s oppressive tactics, “no news about the brutalities and repression of the Indian armed forces, killings, and arrests of thousands of youth are being published”.
“People are unable to know about their kith and kin. The oppressors might try to hide reality, but history will not spare anyone,” he added.
“In spite of India’s best efforts, the Kashmir issue is being highlighted throughout the world like never before. The recently concluded United Nations Security Council meeting on Kashmir, as well as the international media coverage, are its clear examples. In this scenario, we hope that this message reaches you via the international media,” he said.
“This is a great victory for us that now no narrative apart from our ideals of the struggle [to achieve the right to] self-determination and justice remain relevant in the Kashmiri political discourse. Even those who would never tire of flaunting their pro-India credentials and ties to the Indian system have realised that the state does not care about the lives of Kashmiri people, but is only interested in occupying our land whatsoever the cost,” he said.
‘KASHMIRIS ACROSS THE WORLD UNITE’
Geelani urged the Kashmiri people living outside occupied Kashmir to keep themselves informed of the situation back home.
“They must participate in the resistance struggle by acting as ambassadors of Kashmiri people all over the world. They should use their knowledge of Kashmir’s history and their own lived experiences to highlight the oppression and brutalities of the Indian state. They should also connect with other marginalised and struggling nationalities in other parts of the world and forge solidarities of resistance.”
He leader also appealed to Pakistan, and the Muslim Ummah in general, to come forward at this crucial juncture to help the besieged people of Kashmir.
“You are an important party to the Kashmir dispute and this is the time for unity and action. Today, if you once again get ensconced in so-called pragmatism and fail to act decisively, then neither history will forgive you nor will your coming generations,” he warned.
Geelani called upon Indian government officials, bureaucrats as well as police officers employed from the occupied region to “realise that even when they are hand-in-hand in the oppression of their own people, the Indian state does not trust them”. He urged them to “stand up and protest” against the “humiliation” inflicted upon them by the Indian government.
“We have all seen how during the recent events, the Jammu and Kashmir police force was disarmed and the entire command was given to the Indian Army and paramilitaries,” Geelani pointed out.
“Even if such a humiliation does not awaken them to stand up and protest, probably nothing will, and then they should mourn their consciousness and faith, and wait for their destiny of total irrelevance like pro-India politicians in Kashmir.”
Geelani said that the “Indians State’s occupation and its machinations” threatens not only the people of occupied Kashmir but also the Dogra community of Jammu, Buddhists community in Ladakh, Muslims of Pir Panjal and Kargil.
“The Indian State not only wants to occupy our land, but it also intends to destroy our collective identity and brotherhood,” he warned. “We must not allow their heinous plot to succeed at any cost. We must all together stand with the resistance struggle to secure our lives, property, and our demographic character.”
“India should know that even if they bring their entire armed forces into our State, even then the people of Jammu and Kashmir will not let go the struggle for their rights and liberation,” he added.
The Kashmiri leader said that the government’s actions show the “the real deceitful and brutal nature of the Indian State in Kashmir”.
“The rulers from Delhi are drunk [on] power and arrogance of majoritarianism and they have snatched away all precepts of humanity, ethics, and democracy,” he wrote.
“The Indian state subjected the people of Kashmir to a war-like situation, exacerbated by a host of official rumours and psychological warfare, even before the announcement of the decision.”
On August 5, Modi’s government revoked a decades-old special status granted to occupied Kashmir and deployed thousands of troops the region. Indian-occupied Kashmir has been under a sweeping military curfew since then that has seen thousands detained and residents cut off from all communication and the internet.
