JRL hits out at army chief over Kashmir remarks

Srinagar: Joint Resistance Leadership of Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik while reacting to recent remarks of Indian Army chief Bipin Rawat said that Kashmir movement was “love and worship” for them and that they wouldn’t surrender ‘no matter how much pressure Delhi builds on them”.
The leadership also termed the charge-sheet filed by the NIA against Kashmiri separatist leaders, and a businessman as “baseless, false and concocted”, stating that the leaders lodged in Tihar have “literally been kidnapped
Addressing a joint press conference at the Nigeen residence of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the leadership said that deliberate attempts are being made to link Kashmir struggle with “terrorism.”
“This is being done by the Army chief only to justify the massacres of Kashmiris. Now if he wants us to be killed by his men, we would feel proud,” said Yasin Malik.
Addressing the presser over the phone, Geelani, who continues to remain under house arrest, said that Kashmir issue is an accepted dispute by the world community and that the people of Kashmir were demanding their birth right, which is right to self determination.
“Threats by army chief won’t force us into submission. The fact remains that our struggle will continue on all fronts. Ours is a peaceful movement and connecting us with the terrorism is a mere ploy to defame our struggle,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Mirwaiz said that Indian army chief has himself admitted that Kashmiris aspire and desire something but “Delhi would crush the genuine aspirations of people through its military might.”
“ Leadership is duty bound to take the ongoing struggle to its logical goal and won’t surrender come what may,” he said.
Army chief had on Wednesday said that people in Jammu and Kashmir were “tired of militancy as they have realised that it cannot give them what they want.”
“The people of Kashmir in general, I think, are getting tired of terrorism. They have seen it for too long and they have realised that it hasn’t given them what they had desired for,” Rawat said.
“Let me tell you, with a country like India, to seek independence from a nation where we have strong armed forces, very strong democracy and very strong government…you cannot secede away from India. This is what people have realised and while of course some of them have gotten radicalised into joining terrorism and maybe it gives them a macho image or whatever happens, I do feel that most of them want to join the mainstream, but some of them who have got radicalized, I think we need to address those people and carry out with our deradicalisation campaign. If that works, I think we can succeed in putting an end to terrorism,” he said.