Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has said that in spite of the mayhem Kas-hmir has been witnessing over the past nine days, a “good beginning” could be made to bring about peace.
Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has said that in spite of the mayhem Kas-hmir has been witnessing over the past nine days, a “good beginning” could be made to bring about peace.
He has placed six conditions, “confidence building measures (CBMs)” to meet the objective of reconciliation in a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. They are: Accept J&K’s disputed nature and the people’s right to self determination; announce the rapid demilitarisation of populous centres; repeal draconian laws, like AFSPA and Public Safety Act, that facilitate the arbitrary and irresponsible behaviour of an already hostile army; release all political prisoners; allow all international human rights and humanitarian organisations to work in J&K; and ensure free political space for all parties, particularly those advocating the people’s right to self determination.
The letter, copies of which were released here on Sunday, says that these steps could help restore calm, paving the way for the processes required for a “final and just resolution”, thus dispersing “the perpetual clouds of war and conflict that threaten global peace”.
Mr Geelani, who remains under house arrest at his Hyderpora residence here for the past several months, said he had written to Mr Moon to say that the people of the state had been facing “repression” at the hands of the “Indian occupation forces” right from the day they landed in Srinagar in October 1947 after after the British withdrew from the Indian subcontinent and divided it into two states — India and Pakistan. Accu-sing New Delhi of forcibly annexing the state against the principles of partition, self-determination and natural justice, he said that India had been continuously denying its people the right to self-determination.
“In response to our struggle for freedom India has deployed more than half a million armed forces to crush and control less than 10 million people of this occupied region, turning it effectively into a huge prison,” the letter said. It alleged that, so far, more than 100,000 people had been killed in the Kashmir Valley and around half a million in (post-Partition violence) in the Jammu region, with thousands maimed, imprisoned or tortured besides about 10,000 fallen victim to involuntary disappearances. “This situation has not only destroyed the lives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, but has jeopardised world peace and resulted in three wars and numerous confrontations between, now nuclear-armed, India and Pakistan — two populous and poor countries — whose meagre resources are being eaten up by an endless and fruitless arms race.”
Mr Geelani alleged that now a new wave of “state terror” had been unleashed on the people of the Valley and that the security forces had used “extreme violent means” to prevent the people from mourning the killing of a “popular resistance commander” (Burhan Muzaffar Wani).
“Indian forces killed more than 40 people so far, injured more than 3,500, ranging in age from four to 80 years, and damaged the eyes of more than 100 people, firing pellet guns, rendering at least 35 people completely blind in both eyes. Curfew and severe restrictions have been imposed, besieging the already imprisoned population further. Pro-freedom leadership has been either imprisoned or placed under house arrest.”
He cautioned that this state of affairs could spiral out of control and trigger a fresh and avoidable confrontation in the region. Therefore, the CBMs were required. 1. Accept the disputed nature of Jammu and Kashmir and announce the acceptance of the people’s Right to Self Determination 2. Announce rapid demilitarization process of population centres. 3. Repeal draconian laws like AFSPA and Public Safety Act that facilitate the arbitrary and irresponsible behaviour of an already hostile army and that provides them with the legal immunity against heinous crimes like extra-judicial killings, rape, torture and arson committed against a defenceless local population. 4. Release all the political prisoners from prisons, detention centres and house arrest and restore their right to free political activity. 5. Allow UN Special Rapporteurs and all international human rights and humanitarian organisations to work in Jammu and Kashmir, so that the iron curtain of the occupation is lifted. 6. Announce and ensure free political space for all the parties to the disputed Jammu and Kashmir, particularly those advocating the Right to Self Determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
