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| Shah, Geelani on same page | | Mirwaiz's Pakistan Visit | | Neha
Jammu, Dec 17: The self-styled Kashmiri freedom fighters are pulling each others legs and pulling in different directions keeping into consideration their respective personal agendas. That they were not on the same page became clear soon after the secessionist and sectarian violence gripped the Kashmir valley in the late 1980s. They did present a united face for sometime, but the personality and ego clashes, plus their desire to dominate and direct the separatist movement, and their somewhat contradictory stands on Pakistan exposed their weakness as well as weaknesses of the movement. The fact of the matter is that the extremists and separatists like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Mohammad Yasin Malik and Shabir Ahmad Shah did not really see eye to eye with each other from the very beginning. Convinced that they could not work together, each one of them tried to create for himself a separate separatist constituency in the Kashmir valley, as there was no taker for them in Jammu province and Ladakh region.
That these extremists, who have been taking recourse to the politics of emotional blackmail to remain in limelight and enrich themselves to lead a luxurious life, do not appreciate each other's methodology and act independently of each other could be seen from what Geelani and Shah said about the Mirwaiz's latest Pakistan visit and what Mirwaiz said about what Geelani said about his Pakistan visit. This is the latest example showing a deep divide in the separatist camp (read camp of self-seekers, rank opportunists and regressive forces).
It bears recalling that Geelani had opposed the Mirwaiz's decision to visit Pakistan. Mirwaiz, along with six other APHC (M) leaders, started his Pakistan visit last Saturday. As for the reaction of Mirwaiz, he tore into Geelani, dubbed him as a "hard-liner" and held him responsible for the Kashmir impasse. He not only defended his decision to visit Pakistan to meet with Pakistani leaders at the helm as well as leaders of opposition parties to "give them inputs" and denounced Geelani, but he also asserted that the line Geelani had been pursuing only "benefited him and not others". His was a blistering attack on Geelani. But more than that, Mirwaiz asked Geelani and other "hardliners" to "change their outlook".
Only yesterday, Shah, the so-called Nelson Mandela of Kashmir, like Geelani, took on Mirwaiz and accused him of leaving for Pakistan without consulting others. "It was through media that I came to know that Hurriyat delegation is leaving for New Delhi. We all represent sacrifices and aspirations of the nation. It is because of people that we've been recognized in international forums and communities and are being invited in various forums. Hurriyat team should have consulted Syed Ali Shah Geelani Sahib, Yasin Malik and all pro-freedom leaders," Shah told a local news agency, KNS. "Mirwaiz Sahib is chairman of this amalgam (APHC-M). He should make it very clear whether he is going to represent his own party there or the Hurriyat as a whole," he also said.
Significantly, Shah, who severed his relations with Geelani years ago for what the former had called ideological reasons, ridiculed Mirwaiz: He reportedly said: "Mirwaiz should explain the statement to the people and clarify what outlook he was talking about. I welcome and appreciate the statement of Geelani Sahib. We (Hurriyat) are fighting for right to self- determination and the constitution of Hurriyat clearly speaks about it. All Hurriyat leaders should come on the table and make collective effort to achieve this goal. Let us all unite on this basic principle…We've to go at grass-root level and reach out to orphans, widows and other affected people. Every person of the nation (read section of Kashmiri Muslims) is supporting this view. People should ascertain the facts to know who is creating hurdles in this process," Shah also said. It was obvious that he referred to Mirwaiz. Don't attach any importance to the nice words Shah used for Geelani. He commended Geelani only to mock Mirwaiz.
All these statements ad counter-statements are self-explanatory and clearly suggest that these extremists only represent their respective vested interests. It is a matter of grave concern that the powers-that-be in New Delhi have been directly and indirectly according legitimacy to these vested interests. |
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