Lull shouldn’t be construed as end of struggle: Mirwaiz

Srinagar: Asking India to take serious political initiatives to resolve the Kashmir dispute, Chairman Hurriyat Conference (M), Mirwaiz Umar Thursday warned New Delhi that any lull in Kashmir situation shouldn’t be construed as an end of the “resistance movement.”

Stating that the resistance movement of Kashmiris was not five months old, but had been going on in phases, for 63 years, Mirwaiz said New Delhi would be highly mistaken if it shows any sort of complacency regarding the core political issue of Kashmir “by presuming the current lull in the situation to be the end of the Kashmiris’ struggle.”

“If students are busy with exams or people are pursuing their economic or social obligations today, there is no guarantee that they won’t be on the streets after two months. New Delhi can’t ignore the fact that now the fourth generation of Kashmiris has committed itself to the freedom cause or fool itself into believing that ‘resumption of normal life’ means the end of the people’s movement,” Mirwaiz told Press Bureau of India.

The root cause of political instability, he said, lay in the unfilled commitments made to Kashmiris, for which they have been struggling since the time of partition of the sub-continent

“Shifts in momentum are part of freedom struggles. Though, we need to devise such a strategy which besides sustaining the momentum of the freedom struggle also addresses the socio-economic issues of people,” Mirwaiz said.

He said the people and youth in particular by defying “brute government force, curfews, arrests and killings” during the past five months had sent a clear message that they won’t settle down unless the political issue of Kashmir is resolved. “People are committed towards the movement. The government of India must realize that it hasn’t and cannot address the Kashmir issue through military might. Kashmir is a political issue and needs a political solution. Unfortunately, that initiative has been lacking from New Delhi.  It talks of dialogue on one hand while on the other continues to throw its military might to crush Kashmiris,” the Hurriyat (M) chairman said.

Applauding the youth of role in the “freedom movement”, Mirwaiz said their sacrifices won’t be allowed to go waste. “ We will  do all we can to take their message to the world community,” he said.

When asked about the strategy if the government imposed curbs on Friday prayers tomorrow at Jamia Masjid, Mirwaiz reiterated that the Ulema would be left with no option other than issuing a fatwa and asking people to come onto the streets.