Killing at home, shelling on funeral shows state’s ‘repressive mind set’: Hurriyat (M)

Srinagar: Hurriyat Conference (M) said that brutal killing of Muhammad Saleem Malik at his home and using teargas shelling on his funeral by forces reflects the repressive mindset of the state and its utter contempt for human lives on Kashmir.
On one hand all ploys are being employed by New Delhi to instill fear in people and crush them to continue to rule by force and repression. On the other sops and allurements are being offered to lure people to so called local elections to sell them to the outside world as Kashmiri’s endorsement of Indian rule.
New Delhi refuses to realize that both these tactics have outlived their effectiveness and failed to deter people or keep them away from pursuing their just cause of self determination.
Hurriyat (M) said that repeatedly imposing curfews in downtown locking down Kashmir’s spiritual centre, Jamia Masjid and barring Muslims from offering obligatory Friday prayers exposes the hypocrisy of the state claim of “establishing democracy at grass root level”. Hurriyat Conference (M) said that it was for the second consecutive week that historic Jamia Masjid was closed and for the 15th time this year that it remained under siege, which is nothing but total disregard for religious freedom and practices of the majority community.
Hurriyat Conference (M) strongly condemned the autocratic decision of the rulers of caging APHC chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and the continuous house arrest of senior resistance leader Syed Ali Geelani while arresting JKLF chief Muhammad Yasin Malik.
Meanwhile, on the call of JRL, massive protests were held at Lal Bazar and at Masjid Taqwa Tral against the killing of innocent people, arresting resistance leaders and frequent cordon and search operations across South Kashmir terming it as state terror. The protestors said that they will continue to fight for their birth right that is the right to self determination.
Local body polls in JK will help re-establish grassroots democracy: Rajnath
New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh Friday said local body polls in Jammu and Kashmir will be of historic significance in many ways and help re-establish the long overdue grassroots democracy.
In a statement, the home minister said the central government will provide all support, including central forces, for smooth conduct of panchayat and urban local body polls.
“These local body elections will have a historic significance in many aspects. The local bodies’ elections in Jammu and Kashmir will re-establish the long overdue grassroots level democracy in the state,” he said.Elections to local bodies in Jammu and Kashmir are due next month.