Obama’s visit to attract more attention on Kashmir: Geelani

Srinagar: Stating that international attention would be focused on India during American President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to the country, Chairman Hurriyat Conference (G), Syed Ali Shah Geelani Friday asked for more dedication from people towards the freedom struggle, which he said, had entered into a “decisive phase.”

In a statement issued here to KMW, Geelani while urging people to follow the amalgam’s resistance programmes strictly in the coming days said those who would show carelessness would not be only be doing treachery with the blood of martyrs but also cause irreparable damage to the nation’s collective cause.   “The freedom-loving generation of Kashmiris will not accept such traitors any more and would make them answerable before the people’s court,” the veteran leader said.

Geelani said the ongoing resistance movement was giving sleepless nights to the “stubborn” Indian establishment and while people in India had begun to feel the pain and sufferings of Kashmiris, the international community too was raising its voice in favour of the people of Kashmir.  “However, this encouraging change has also put more responsibility on our shoulders and any sort of procrastination at this critical juncture could prove detrimental to our cause,” Geelani said.

Referring to the importance of Obama’s upcoming visit to India, Geelani said the international focus would be on Kashmir during the American president’s visit to the country. “It is our responsibility to vigorously convey our miserable plight under the illegal occupation of India and impress upon the world community that delaying the resolution of the 63-year-old Kahsmir dispute cannot be afforded any longer as it poses a threat to the stability and peace of South Asia,” the veteran leader said.

Geelani said November was an important and unforgettable month in the history of Kashmir as “India’s communal fanatics had slaughtered lakhs of Muslims in the same month in the state in 1947.”