Srinagar: In the wake of a senior separatist leader Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai’s MBA son reportedly joining the ranks of a militant group, an alliance of Kashmir’s key separatist leaders alleged on Monday that Kashmiri youth are being pushed to wall.
“The innocent people are detained on frivolous charges and sent to jail. The youth are being pushed to the wall. Such undemocratic and inhuman situation can’t be tolerated for long,” said a joint statement issued after Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik closeted here to discuss the present political scenario in the restive state.
The statement called the meeting held at Geelani’s residence “extraordinary” and said that the participants “strongly condemned the atrocities being committed on people throughout Kashmir and expressed concern over the ill-treatment meted out to political prisoners lodged in jails in and outside the Kashmir Valley”.
“They said the detainees are subjected to worst form of harassment in the jails. The entire nation stands with them and they deserve all applauds for their courage”, the statement said. While terming the present political situation in Kashmir as worrisome, the separatist leaders, who are part of an alliance called ‘Joint Resistance Leadership’, claimed that the complete silence adopted by the world community “is lending a helping hand to the Government of India and their stooges to commit more human rights violations in Kashmir”.
The statement further added, “The leaders said that military might or using iron fist policy can never solve the Kashmir problem rather cause more destruction of life and property”. They asserted that in order to secure the future of billions of people of South Asia “there is high need to take concrete steps to resolve the vexed Kashmir issue”.
Sehrai’s 26-year-old son Junaid Ashraf Khan went missing on March 23, after he left his Srinagar home to offer Friday prayers at a nearby mosque. Next day, the family reported the matter to the police but soon a photograph showing him holding an AK 47 assault rifle went viral on social media.
The message posted with it said that he has joined Hizb-ul-Mujahedin, the frontline indigenous militant group.
J&K’s Director General of Police, Shesh Paul Vaid, while terming the development as “unfortunate” had urged Sehrai to appeal his son and other Kashmiri youth who have turned to the gun to shun violence.
“Sehrai Sahib is now in command. He should appeal his son and other local boys wielding gun to return. He should himself take lead in entering into a dialogue so that the youth of Kashmir are saved from the path of violence,” he said.
