Chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said Kashmir is a political issue and accused New Delhi of projecting Kashmiris' anger in a wrong way to befool the people of India.
The Mirwaiz, restrictions on whom were eased by the government on Saturday, told a news conference here that use of force against unarmed civilians would prove counter-productive. “Peaceful protests against the killing of innocent youth are genuine and should be allowed.”
Stating that “civil disobedience” called by him would continue, he said “the peaceful protesters are not hooligans, gangsters or mobsters. They are common youth protesting against the killing of their innocent brethren. The statements of the Home Minister and the Home Secretary are false and far from reality. India should stop looking at Kashmir through the Pakistan prism. No Pakistani is getting killed here. We Kashmiris are getting killed,” said the Mirwaiz. “People and the leadership of India have to accept the reality and shed the ostrich-like approach.”
“The youth of Kashmir are up against injustice, oppression and subjugation.”
The Mirwaiz denied that the Kashmir issue was about development, economic packages and elections. Referring to the recent statement of Army Chief General V.K. Singh, he said “even the Army is accepting that there is no military solution to the Kashmir issue.”
He condemned the use of force on protesters during the Sopore march and imposition of restrictions. He asked the government to lift curfew in the Valley and once it was done, the situation would automatically become normal.
