ED notice to Shabir Shah’s daughters shameful: Geelani
Srinagar, April 12 : Chairman Hurriyat Conference (G) Syed Ali Geelani on Friday strongly condemned the ED notice to daughters of jailed Hurriyat leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, arrest of JKLF chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik by NIA and shifting him to Tihar jail, repeated quizzing of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and shifting of Jamaat-e-Islami and other religious leaders outside the state.
In a statement issued to GNS, Geelani said Indian rulers are using their investigative agencies as a war weapon to strangulate the people in general and pro-freedom workers and leaders in particular.
He said that Shabir Ahmad Shah has spent most of his life in Indian jails and today also he is lodged in the Tihar jail for the last two years. He is in their custody to answer any question and issuing notices to his minor daughters is not only undemocratic, immoral but shameful as well, he said.
Reacting to the JKLF chief Yasin Malik’s arrest by NIA and shifting him to Tihar jail, Hurriyat (G) chairman said the pro-freedom leaders and workers are not alien to these jails and interrogations.
“Putting them behind bars on decade’s old fabricated cases is nothing but to pressurize them to subjugation which is never going to happen,” he said.
Geelani said that continued quizzing of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq for four consecutive days is nothing but to threaten the leadership to stay away from the genuine demands of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“But, as said earlier, these muscular tactics are sure to strengthen our resolve more than earlier,” he said.
Hurriyat (G) chairman said that shifting of Jamaat-e-Islami and other religious leaders to outside jails, is condemnable and the rulers who always claim to uphold the democratic values of their constitution are themselves responsible for tarnishing every fabric of it.
“Their courts have categorically opposed the shifting of prisoners away from their homes, but biased and arrogant rulers don’t even care about their own judicial commands,” he said.
He also reiterated his appeal for complete election boycott.
Meanwhile, Geelani expressed deep grief over the killing of youth Uwais Ahmad Mir by forces at Mandigam, Kupwara and injuries to several others in Baramulla on Thursday.
“It is a well-thought-out plan of genocide and authorities resorted to indiscriminate firing to make this election drama a success,” he said.
Appealing to the international community to take cognizance of the war-like situation prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir, Hurriyat (G) chairman said their continuous silence and turning eyes from these “grave violations” is rather disheartening.
“Their tall claims about safeguarding people’s rights prove futile, as no practicable steps are being taken to stop these gross human rights violations,” he said. (GNS)
