APHC chief put under
house arrest
Tribune
News Service
SRINAGAR, Aug 26 —
The police here today kept the APHC chairman, Syed Ali
Shah Geelani, under house arrest, while several other
senior leaders of the APHC were held. The APHC has called
for a public meeting at Sher-e-Kashmir Park, after Friday
prayer here tomorrow as a part of its anti-election
campaign.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani,
chairman of the All-Party Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference
(APHC) was kept under house arrest at his Hyderpora
residence early this morning. A number of other leaders
including Shakeel Ahmad Bakshi and Ashraf Sahrai were
held from the office of the APHC at Rajbagh this morning.
Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq, chief of the Awami Action
Committee (AAC) and former chairman of the APHC said that
the APHC office at Rajbagh was sealed by the police,
while the office of the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim
Conference in Rajbagh was also sealed by the police. He
alleged that these attempts were being made by the
administration to harass the Hurriyat leaders and prevent
them from holding tomorrow's public meeting at
Shere-e-Kashmir Park.
Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar
Farooq also claimed that the police had gheraoed his
Nageen residence this morning and prevented him from
moving out to attend the AAC meeting at the party office
at Rajouri Kadal. "It was after a resistance for
about one and a half hours that the police removed the
barricades", Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said. He alleged
that over 50 police personnel had converged at his
residence to prevent him on the eve of the public meeting
here tomorrow. He claimed that the APHC had informed the
SHO concerned and Director of the Gardens and Parks about
APHC plan to hold anti-election meeting at Sher-e-Kashmir
Park tomorrow. There was no response so far, he said.
Reiterating his party's
and the APHC stand on the right of self determination for
the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the former APHC chairman
expressed the hope that the new government at the Centre
would realise the situation in Kashmir. Mirwaiz Umar
Farooq held that the coming elections were no issue of
the change of governments but the issue of the right of
self determination was the basic issue. He held that the
basic issue needed to be addressed.
Referring to the recent
statement of the Election Commissioner of India, Mr GVG
Krishnamurthy that the parties were free to have their
point of view. Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq held that it
was only "force" in Kashmir and such freedom
was not available here. "Only Danda rule works in
Kashmir", he alleged. "Within 24 hours of the
EC's statement, the real democratic face came to
light" when his party men were harassed and several
others held, he claimed.
Claiming that elections
were no answer, the Mirwaiz (chief priest) questioned the
conditions of free and fair elections. He said that while
the EC had already declared more than 70 per cent polling
stations in Jammu and Kashmir as sensitive or
hypersensitive, how could there be free and fair
elections. "When 70 per cent of polling stations are
hypersensitive or sensitive, security forces will be
deployed, and there will be no free and fair elections,
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said.
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