SRINAGAR – Hitting out at the concept of army colonies in the disputed state of Jammu Kashmir, Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has cautioned that it is a “resist or breathe your last breath” like situation for the Kashmiri people and any carelessness on this sensitive occasion will prove a final nail in the coffin of state’s existence, identity and freedom struggle.
“We will become strangers in our own land,” he said in a statement. “There is no legal or moral justification in settling the former Indian army men in the disputed territory leaving aside the 29 states of India,” he said. “It is an open aggression and hooliganism. Hurriyat Conference will formulate a strategy to gather a national consensus on this issue and to counter this aggression,” he said.
Geelani said that the status of Jammu Kashmir was quite different from other Indian states. “It is a disputed territory and it is waiting for its final and permanent solution. India is holding this state with the help of military’s might and this occupation has no moral and constitutional justifications,” he said. “Jammu Kashmir has its own constitution and this constitution also does not permit any non-local to settle here,” he said.
“The establishment of the army colonies is not only a dangerous plot to influence the disputed nature of Jammu Kashmir but it is also a deliberate attempt to end the special status of this state,” he said. Geelani said that India was working on many long- and short-term programmes to continue its forced occupation in Jammu Kashmir.
“And the most important part of this plan is the changing of demography of the state so that the Muslim majority will get converted into minorities. And the setting up of army colony is also a part of this dangerous game,” he said.Inthe last 25 years, India has killed thousands of innocent people, thousands have been murdered in government custodies and about 10 thousand people have been subjected to enforced disappearance, he said.
He said that instead of holding the impartial investigation into these grave war crimes and the involved personals be held accountable for their crimes, India was planning to give these soldiers a bonus and reward in the shape of settling them here in the disputed state so that they would continue their criminal acts against the Kashmiri nation. Geelani said that it was grave injustice and worst oppression the world has ever seen.
