Geelani barred from attending Urdu Book Fair function at KU

Srinagar: As scheduled to visit Urdu book fair in University of Kashmir, Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman, Syed Ali Geelani was not allowed to step out of his residence on Friday at 10:00 am.
In a statement issued on Friday the Hurriyat Conference (G) said “Geelani’s Hyderpora office-cum-residence, which has been converted into jail for the last one decade, was cordoned off by extra police force to sabotage and prevent him from attending this purely academic activity.”
Condemning what he termed as police highhandedness and coercive measures of the government, Geelani said that “I was going to meet my beloved youth, interact and spend some time with them and it was a peaceful and apolitical event, but not only our political and religious, but academic and educational activities too are curbed and forcibly stopped with the barrel of gun.”
He said that hardly anybody have witnessed such incidents in world’s largest democracy, where a 90 years old person is confined in the four walls of his house for the last almost a decade and all his personnel, social, religious and academic activities are curtailed and the brazen and egoist rulers and their on-sale bureaucracy proudly does so.
Geelani said that “youth particularly students would have been waiting in the lawns of the University and I too was eager and enthusiastic to be among them after a very long gap.” In his message, Geelani said that “these dark and gloomy clouds of oppression will fade away and this frightening and distressing night of slavery is surely going to have a glorious dawn of freedom.”
Expressing his serious concern about the extinction of Urdu, Geelani said that “most of our literature is in Urdu particularly in this sub-continent and our carelessness and non seriousness about it, will deprive, not only us but our coming generations, of the valuable and literary treasure of our faith and culture.”
He requested students, researchers, teachers and educationists to come forward to safeguard this language and oppose tooth and nail any mischief to suppress it. Geelani said that communal forces have very cunningly attributed this language to Muslims only and likewise is treated as a minority, but fact of the matter is that this melodious language has echoed in every soul irrespective of its faith and religion.
Even in our homes our kids speak Urdu, but struggle very hard when it comes to reading and writing, which is pathetic, he said while congratulating the organizers and participants this book fair, adding that these people have traveled from far off places to this strife torn land and have camped for the last one week to promote “Urdu”, we as a bruised nation, apprise and acknowledge their sincere efforts for this sweet language.
He appealed to the students, scholars and budding academicians, to get to the zenith of knowledge and analysis—you need to concentrate on your education, research and work hard, but also remain connected to your roots as well. “We as a nation need to be equipped with the latest technology in every field to face the present day challenges,” he said.