Geelani placed under house arrest: Hurriyat (G)

Srinagar: Hurriyat Conference (G) Thursday said police placed its chairman, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, under house arrest to prevent him from addressing a public gathering in south Kashmir’s Islamabad district. Spokesman, Ayaz Akbar, said that Geelani was scheduled to address a public gathering in south Kashmir’s Islamabad(Anantnag) district on Friday at 2:30 p.m., but “ a heavy contingent of police was placed outside Geelani sahib’s Hyderpora residence this morning, apparently to prevent him from addressing the rally.” Akbar said the rally was part of the “peaceful mass awareness campaign launched by the Hurriyat to highlight the miserable plight of political prisoners and secure their release.” “Earlier this month the administration imposed an undeclared  curfew in Shopian district and placed Geelani under house arrest to prevent him from addressing a public rally in the area and now the police has decided once again to foil the Islamabad rally by using these undemocratic measures.” Akbar alleged that police had set up checkpoints at all important roads leading to the south Kashmir district and “the undemocratic and immoral approach of the authorities had exposed (Chief Minister) Omar Abdullah’s claims that Geelani was free to go anywhere.” Akbar also flayed Abdullah’s claim on micro blogging site, Twitter, that Geelani had lost feel of people’s pulse, saying the Hurriyat leader represented the sentiments and aspirations “of the majority of people in Kashmir.” “Omar Abdullah knows that there is nothing in his hands, and that it’s the Indian Home Ministry which runs the affairs of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.Akbar said that New Delhi and the “so-called rulers of Jammu and Kashmir must understand that they might have succeeded in enforcing the silence of a graveyard in Kashmir through the police and other forces, but that doesn’t mean that everything is alright in Kashmir and people have resigned to the Indian occupation.”