Geelani rebuffs PM’s ‘threat’

Srinagar: Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani Friday sharply rebuffed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s “threat” that India would “give no quarter to secessionist elements”  in Kashmir, saying the statement had exposed India’s “hollow”  democratic credentials.

“Whatever happened in Kashmir in 2010 was nothing but a people’s revolution and Manmohan Singh’s threat that India would not allow Kashmiris to rise up again has unmasked the dictator behind the façade of innocence, who takes pride in announcing to crush the sentiments of people. The statement has also exposed India’s hollow claims of being a democracy,” Geelani said, according to a statement issued here to.

Geelani said India was “ridiculing its own position in the international community by choosing to be a bully at a time when revolutions are sweeping the globe and people ruling others through force and intimidation are losing the battle.”

“Let India remove its military from Kashmir and then it would become clear to which Kashmir belongs. The fact is that the day the military and police raj in Kashmir ends, Kashmiris would come onto streets in such numbers which would overshadow the revolution in Egypt and other places,” he said.

Geelani said Singh’s statement was not surprising though as India “ was only interested in the land of Kashmir and not its people, which is clear from the fact that India doesn’t show the slightest hesitation in killing Kashmiris, sending them to jails in order to keep Kashmir under its military occupation.”

Replying to a debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address in the Parliament yesterday, Singh had said that New Delhi’s “approach to the problems of Jammu and Kashmir is that we will give no quarter to secessionist elements. We will do everything in our power to strengthen the hands of the state government to provide a fairer deal to the youth of Jammu and Kashmir, to provide avenues for gainful employment.”