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| Dukhtaraan chief held, PSA on separatists | | Mirwaiz assails Asiya’s shutdown call but supports Geelani’s protest calendar | | Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
SRINAGAR, Jun 10: Even as the National Conference-led coalition government has arrested the radical Dukhtaraan-e-Millat Chairperson Asiya Andrabi on the eve of the Union Home Minister, P C Chidambaram’s maiden visit to Kashmir valley, and also slapped Public Safety Act (PSA) on a number of the detained separatist leaders, Hurriyat (Mirwaiz) Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has supported Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s calendar of weeklong massive protests. He has been, however, critical of Asiya Andrabi’s call for shutdown on occasion of Chidambarm’s visit and warned that issuance of such calls separately from individual leaders would only lead to an anarchical situation.
Authoritative sources revealed to Early Times that in hours of her issuing a call for shutdown against Home Minister Chidambaram’s maiden visit to Srinagar last evening, Police arrested Dukhtaraan-e-Millat Chairperson, Asiya Andrabi, and detained her at a Women’s Police Station at Rambagh. Sources said that government decided to take the radical women leader into custody in the wake of a sequence of provocations that included persuading girl students to take up knives, circulating threats through her cellphones and seeking disruption of order, particularly a promising tourist season, in the capital city.
Dukhtaraan’s spokesperson Rifat Fatima dismissed Asiya’s detention as “government’s frustration” and asked the people of Kashmir to observe total shutdown on Chidambar’s visit tomorrow.
Sources said that while rolling back its soft policy towards the separatist leadership in the wake of unending pandemonium over the Shopian incident, Government has finally slapped PSA on about a dozen separatist leaders who had been earlier taken into custody on different occasions. They, however, do not include head of the radical faction of Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who has been lodged at a VIP hut of J&K Tourism Development Corporation at Cheshma Shahi, close to Raj Bhawan.
Having detained them all under PSA, Government has shifted Democratic Freedom Party chief Shabir Ahmed Shah and JKLF (R) activist Mohammad Saleem alias Nanhaji to Udhampur, National Front President Nayeem Khan to Kathua, Geelani confidante Mohamamd Ashraf Sehrai and Mohammad Yusuf Mir to Kot Bhalwal and another Geelani protégé Massarat Aalm to a jail in Rajouri. Sources said that no decision had been taken regarding detention under PSA or shifting of Geelani and Asiya to Jammu or other places till late tonight. Among the prominent separatist leaders, Hurriyat (M) Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and JKLF Chairman, Mohammad Yasin Malik, have been “under house arrest” since last couple of weeks.
Addressing a news conference at his residence, Hurriyat (M) Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, condemned the detention of a number of Valley’s separatist leaders. He reminded Chief Minister Omar Abdullah his pre-election promise of releasing all of J&K’s political detainees and “complete tolerance to the battle of ideas” and complained that the NC leader had adopted the policy of reversal in days of assuming power.
Mirwaiz supported Geelani’s 7-day calendar of protests in Valley but asked the people not to observe any shutdown on the Dukhtaraan chief Asiya Andrabi’s call on Thursday. He said it was unfortunate that all of the Valley’s separatist leaders had begun to issue such calls separately “only to take lead” in pushing the Kashmiris into a quagmire of chaos, confusion and anarchy. He asked the people to follow Geelani’s programme. Asked why Hurriyat had not introduced any other form of resistance, Mirwaiz said that shutdown was the “only tool in our hands”.
Condemning the arrest of separatist leaders and use of Police force on the “peaceful demonstrations of girl students and women”, Mirwaiz said that the Kashmiris would never make any compromise on chastity and modesty of their womenfolk. He contended that heavy military concentration was the root-cause of all shameful incidents like that of Shopian.
Mirwaiz said that the Hurriyat-Delhi dialogue process had frozen only after Government of India declined to adopt certain CBMs. Urging New Delhi to retrieve the process of dialogue with Hurriyat, Mirwaiz demanded revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act, withdrawal of troops, release of J&K’s political detainees, strengthening of cross-LoC trade and travel besides zero-tolerance to human rights abuse (by security forces) in Jammu & Kashmir. He lashed out at the mainstream NC and PDP and claimed that grabbing of power was one-odd objective and goal of such outfits. He asked both these parties to adopt the resolution of revocation of AFSPA and withdrawal of troops on the floor of Legislative Assembly if they had really any concern over the “rape-cum-murder” of Kashmiri women.
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