In occupied Kashmir, the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), Syed Ali Gilani, has said that struggle for Kashmir freedom will continue till complete success and no power on earth can change the course of Kashmiris who have sacrificed so much for the cause.
Syed Ali Gilani, who is under continued house detention since 2010, in an interview in Srinagar said Kashmiris know that their struggle is just and also has the backing of international law. He urged the international community to do more to make New Delhi accept the realities in Kashmir.
The APHC Chairman expressed serious concern over the prevailing situation in the occupied territory. He said India is continuing its harsh repression in occupied Kashmir and killing Kashmiri youth on daily basis but killing and other cheap tactics will not weaken the sentiment and idea of freedom.
He hailed the resolve of Kashmiris, particularly women, saying that they are rendering unflinching sacrifices in the ongoing liberation movement. He said India wants to project its violence, which is a part of its illegal control, as legitimate and make all dissent illegitimate.
Syed Ali Gilani said that tripartite talks among Pakistan, India and the people of Kashmir could be a way forward on Kashmir but New Delhi had never been sincere in talks. He said, “If New Delhi is serious, which it is not, it should have held a plebiscite. After all, if it says ‘Kashmir belongs to India’ why not to hold the plebiscite? But they know they are brutally holding our land and our people. We have always called upon the Indian government to accept the realities. If they are not even ready to accept that Kashmiris are the main party to the dispute, then what peace are they talking about?”
The octogenarian leader maintained that the resistance leadership has always stressed that dialogue among the three parties to the dispute – India, Pakistan and people of Kashmir – is a way forward. “We have also agreed to talks in the past, but New Delhi resorts to doublespeak and the utter lies about those talks have always been exposed. As Kashmiris have noted, New Delhi uses the idea of talks and tries to deal with some situation and hoodwink the world on what it is doing in Kashmir, not as a sincere means of establishing peace,” he pointed out.
The APHC Chairman maintained that his continued house arrest is taking a toll on his health. “Being under constant house arrest for the last eight years, I have been unable to even offer Friday prayers, not to talk of Eid prayers. The overall space for pro-freedom leaders has been squeezed as New Delhi wants that we should be cut off from our people. They don’t even want us to reach out to our people or condole and console with them in times of grief,” he said.
Syed Ali Gilani said the condition of political prisoners in jails is miserable as New Delhi flouts every law to subject them to mental and physical torture. The persecution of dissenters and pro-freedom leaders under false and absurd charges has also been heightened and even basic religious freedoms are flagrantly violated, he deplored.
Asked about the difference in Kashmir policy during the rule of Congress and BJP, he said the arrogant and brutal policy has always existed under various regimes in New Delhi. He said the RSS now uses its political face, the BJP, to try and infuse Hindutva ideology into repression. He said the RSS and BJP want to implement what their Israeli friend, rather partners in crime, tried to do in occupied Palestine. “Using the name of Article 35-A or 370 of the Indian Constitution is part of this policy but we will also resist this as it is an attempt to change land demography in Kashmir,” he maintained.
Syed Ali Gilani said that the people of Kashmir rejected all sham elections in the territory. He said the Indian government uses local collaborators and pro-India parties to say these elections are for roads, water and electricity but later tries to convert these votes into an imaginary referendum.
