SrinagarJoint Resistance Leadership on Thursday claimed that Army Chief General Bipin Rawat’s statement on Kashmir was an “acceptance of facts”, but said there cannot be a military solution to the Kashmir issue.
General Rawat said yesterday that the people in Kashmir had realised that it was very difficult to secede from India and they were also getting tired of militancy.
“They have seen it for too long and they have realised (that) it hasn’t given them what they had desired for. Let me tell you…with a country like India, to seek independence from a nation where we have strong armed forces, where we have a strong democracy, and a very strong government, you cannot secede from India. This is what the people have realised,” the army chief said.
Reacting to the statement, the JRL, at a joint press conference, said it was a clear indication that General Rawat had accepted the fact that the majority of the people in Jammu and Kashmir “are demanding their right to self- determination and freedom”.
“This statement is an admission of what the people of Kashmir want. This is a clear indication that he has accepted the fact that the majority of the people of J-K are demanding their right to self-determination and ‘azadi’ (freedom)…,” one of the JRL leaders and chairman of Hurriyat Conference (M) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told reporters at his Nigeen residence here.
Mirwaiz was flanked by Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik. The Hurriyat Conference chairman, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, addressed the presser telephonically.
The three have come together on a united platform under the name of Joint Resistance Leadership.
The Mirwaiz said the Army chief’s statement was a clear indication of New Delhi’s policy on Kashmir.
He said there cannot be a military solution to the Kashmir issue.
“Let it be absolutely clear that the Kashmir issue cannot be resolved (and) Kashmiris cannot be pushed to the wall, thorough intimidation, force or coercion,” he said.
On the NIA charge sheet against 12 people in connection with the funding of terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir, the Mirwaiz said it was an effort to mislead the people of the country.
“There is an all-out effort on part of the government to mislead the people of India and the people of the world to give them an impression that this is a sponsored struggle and people are in this for money.
We reject this. This is a mere propaganda… We are not scared and we won’t be cowed down,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Malik said Pakistan was not involved with the 2016 agitation and dared the NIA to arrest the trio who, he said, were behind issuing protest calendars that year.
The JRL termed the charge sheet filed by the NIA against the arrested Kashmiris as farce, cryptic and vague.
Malik said protest calendars during the 2016 unrest were issued by him, Geelani and Mirwaiz alone and that those who have been lodged in Tihar Jail had no active role in the entire exercise. Mass movement of 2016 erupted after Burhan Wani sahib was martyred by the forces on July 8, 2016. People in droves took to streets as he was popular among the masses. The Indian government responded by force and tens of youth used to get killed every day. The Joint Resistance Leadership then only issued a systematic protest calendar, Malik told reporters.
He added that when only he himself, Mirwaiz and Syed Ali Geelani were involved in issuing protest calendars, why others are being bundled in Tihar jail by NIA. We have already dared the Indian state that if they have guts, let they arrest us. By kidnapping people and black mailing the leadership, we will not be cowed down, Malik asserted, adding that the era of 1995 has returned to Kashmir but will not succeed once again to suppress the dissent of Kashmiri people.
Geelani also said the NIA accusations have no basis and demanded immediate release of all the accused who are under the NIA custody.
He said it was New Delhi’s policy to link the “struggle in Kashmir” with terrorism.
“The struggle of Kashmiris is not terrorism, our struggle is different. We want a peaceful resolution of the issue,” he said. (with PTI inputs)
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