Geelani his back at Farooq, calls him ‘brash’

Srinagar: A day after National Conference patron, Farooq Abdullah launched a scathing attack on him, the Chairman of his faction of Hurriyat Conference Monday hit back, calling the second generation scion of sheikh family as ‘brash’.

“Farooq Abdullah is a conscienceless person who and his family is responsible for all the miseries and sufferings of Kashmirism,” the veteran leader said in a statement here to KMW.

“National Conference and the Sheikh family are the Mir Jafars and Sadiqs of Kashmir. Had they not deceived Kashmiris at every step there would have been no Kashmir issue, no political instability in the sub-continent nor would there have been any animosity between India and Pakistan,” Geelani said.

The octogenarian said the Kashmir dispute was not his Hurriyat Conference’s creation, ‘but a product of Sheikh Abdullah and National Conference’s treacherous politics.’

“If Sheikh Abdullah, under the influence of Indian leaders, had not converted the Muslim Conference into National Conference in 1938, Kashmir’s history would have been different today. If National Conference had not validated the accession in 1947 for the sake of enjoying power, Indian troops wouldn’t have been killing our youth. The oppression unleashed by National Conference during its tenure from 1947 to 1953 is a tragic part of our history. It was a period when Azadi-seeking people were tortured or exiled, and even tuning into Radio Pakistan was considered a punishable crime,” he said.

“It was the loss of power in 1953 that, according to its own leaders, forced the NC to opt for political vagrancy for 22 years. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have taken the seat of power given in charity by New Delhi in 1975 for burying the demand of plebiscite,” Geelani added.

Lashing out at Farooq Abdullah, Geelani said it was he who signed the death orders of ‘Shaheed’ Maqbool Butt, “a man he had taken oath with for liberating Kashmir.” “When he began to lose, he rigged the elections wholesale in 1987, forcing desperate Kashmiri youth to pick up guns. And then, after the sacrifices of thousands of Kashmiris, Farooq Abdullah stabbed this nation in the back again by participating in 1996 elections. Dreaded Task Force responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent Kashmiris is his creation.  There is only one reason for Indian occupation of Kashmir : Farooq Abdullah  and his family,” he said.

Geelani said that he was against India’s military occupation of Kashmir and would never change his stand. “Even if they hang me I would never change my stand unlike Farooq Abdullah and NC.”

Reacting to Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah’s statement that separatists shall talk to India having talked to its parliamentarians, Geelani said, “Unless and until India openly accepts Kashmir dispute, there is no question of talking to New Delhi. However, we will talk to Indians who meet us in informal manner.”