No other choice but to strive for freedom: Geelani
 

ISLAMABAD: All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leader Syed Ali Geelani has said there is “no other alternative but to fight with full determination” and urged the residents of occupied Jammu and Kashmir to resist the naked Indian brutality with courage at this critical juncture.In his first official statement since the Hindu nationalist BJP government revoked the disputed region’s special autonomy, Geelani said: “India should know that even if they bring their entire armed forces into occupied Jammu and Kashmir, even then the people of Jammu and Kashmir will not abandon struggle for their rights and liberation.” The Kashmir Media Service released the statement on Sunday.He added: “We must fight the enemy in unison. History remains witness to the fact that big military powers have repeatedly perished in front of the force of peoples’ unity and truth. Courage, patience, and discipline are those weapons of a defenceless people which can defeat the enemy with howsoever enormous an arsenal.” Geelani said the people of Pakistan and their leaders in particular, and the Muslim Ummah in general, must come forward at this crucial juncture to help the besieged people of Kashmir.Since the Narendra Modi government revoked Article 370 of the Indian constitution on August 5 in a contentious move that sparked fury in neighbouring Pakistan, the disputed region remains under strict lockdown with movement limited and many phone and internet services cut. Authorities insist they have been easing restrictions gradually.The APHC leader lamented that the entire region has been transformed into a prison. He said: “Even as we continue to receive immensely grim news from every corner, the Indian State has made extensive efforts to hide their campaign of brutal repression from the outside world.“Not only have they blocked the entire communication systems used by common people since about the beginning of the month, they have also gagged local reportage and news media without any formal declaration.“No news about the brutalities and repression of the Indian armed forces, killings, and arrests of thousands of youth is being published. Common people are unable to know about their kith and kin. The oppressors might try to hide the reality, but history will not spare anyone.”Geelani said the Indian state has long used “elaborate deception to obfuscate Kashmiri people’s narrative of struggle at the international level”. However, he added, in spite of India’s best efforts, the Kashmir issue “is being highlighted throughout the world like never before”.He said: “The recently concluded United Nations Security Council meeting on Kashmir as well as the international media coverage are its clear examples. In this scenario, we hope that this message reaches you via the international media.”He maintained that the rulers in New Delhi are drunk on power and the “arrogance of majoritarianism” and they have snatched away all precepts of humanity, ethics, and democracy. “They have increased manifold the already enormous Indian military presence in Kashmir to force unilateral decisions upon people who have been made prisoners in their own homes. “These attempts to divide Jammu and Kashmir and bring it under direct Union control in fact, makes a mockery of their own so-called democracy,” he added.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/PgpfHEfNUQI

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