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| `Do they want Kashmir to become Pakistan? | | Farooq lashes out at separatists | | Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Sept 7: National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on Saturday hit out at separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani for opposing the concert of renowned Western classical music icon Zubin Mehta.
"Who is Hurriyat to oppose? Do they want Kashmir to become Pakistan where people kill each other every day," asked Abdullah.
Meanwhile, speaking on the whole debate, Congress leader Choudhary Lal Singh said that when separatists realise that their importance is fading, they come up with lame excuses to create controversies.
Security measures have already been beefed up in the Kashmir Valley for the 90-minute concert that would be telecast live in 104 countries.
Geelani has called for a complete shutdown in the Kashmir Valley of Jammu and Kashmir on September 07 to protest the scheduled Zubin Mehta concert in the state capital.
He had also asked German Ambassador Michael Steiner, who is organising the show, to review his plan as "international events held in disputed territory interfere with its disputed status".
Earlier in the day, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah accused separatist groups of double standards for opposing a concert in Srinagar by Zubin Mehta, saying no one protested when Pakistani band Junoon performed in the city.
"These (separatists) people are selective. This is not the first music concert in Kashmir. If music is anti-Islam, against the issue of Kashmir, how come Junoon came and performed here," he said.
"Nobody raised any voices on that ... Then there should have been a shutdown for Junoon also," he told reporters after reviewing arrangements for Mehta's concert on Saturday at Shalimar Mughal Garden on the banks of Dal Lake.
Omar said the controversy about the concert has been blown out of proportion. |
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