Srinagar, March 24: Strongly condemning the house arrest of APHC Chairman Mirwaiz Dr Molvi Mohammad Umar Farooq and thus preventing him once again from offering Friday prayers at Historic Jamia Masjid, the Hurriyat spokesman said the way government was imposing curbs on the political and religious activities of Mirwaiz and placing other resistance leaders under house arrest or behind bars reflects the worst example of dictatorial policies being followed by the present dispensation.
The spokesman said the present government along with the other pro-Indian political parties, by conducting the upcoming sham parliamentary elections on the basis of the military might and coercion, were hell bent upon to show the world that things were alright in Kashmir. However, the spokesman said, in reality, Kashmir has been actually turned into a police state, adding, the resistance leadership has been put behind bars or placed under house arrest and all those voices in favour of election boycott and supporting the right to self determination were being ruthlessly crushed by the government and its unbridled forces using coercive tactics.
Sternly condemning the arrest of Kashmiri youth from the length and breadth of the valley, the spokesman said large number of youngsters were being arrested from Srinagar and Pulwama and shifted to police lockups and jails of Kashmir. He termed the government action of arresting youth as unwarranted and an act of political vendetta, adding, any voice which is being raised against highhandedness and tyranny of the government is silenced by force and coercion.
Meanwhile, Khateeb of Jamia masjid Srinagar, Syed Ahmad Naqashbandi while delivering Friday Sermon at Historic Jamia Masjid today condemned the house arrest of Mirwaiz. He said by stopping Mirwaiz to offer Friday prayers time and again, the government was openly interfering into his religious affairs. He said that preventing Mirwaiz from offering prayers and from political activities reflects the frustration of the government which by all means is dictatorial and tyrannical.
Soon after the Friday prayers a protest rally led by Mohammad Yaqoob Masoodi was taken out from the Jamia Masjid in support of election boycott call given by the resistance leadership and to protest against the arrest and house arrest of resistance leaders including Mirwaiz Dr. Molvi Mohammad Umar Farooq, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mohammad Yasin Malik, Mukhtar Ahmad Waza, Advocate Shahid-ul-Islam, and hundreds of youth. A large number of people participated in the rally in which they raised slogans in favour of election boycott and denounced the continuous house arrest of Mirwaiz.
Meanwhile, remembering the victims of 2003 Naidmarg Pulwama massacre in which 22 Kashmiri pandits were killed by unknown gunmen, the Hurriyat spokesman said that it was highly regrettable and reflects the extreme callousness of the rulers that till date the culprits of the massacre were not nabbed nor were any serious and independent efforts made to probe the incident. He said the near and dear ones of the victims are still waiting for justice.
