Coercion pushing youth to pick up arms: Mirwaiz

Srinagar: Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday claimed that injustice and coercion “by the authoritarian state” was pushing youth to take up arms in the state. Mirwaiz, who heads the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, also denounced the “arbitrary arrest” of three youths in north Kashmir's Bandipora district. The Hurriyat leader said he “strongly” denounced the arrest of three youths — Tawseef Lone, Abdul Samad and Suhail Parray - who were detained without trial under the Public Safety Act and shifted to Kot Bhalwal Jail in Jammu. “It is such injustice and coercion by the authoritarian state that pushes our youth to take up arms and end up paying with their dear lives,” he said, adding that the killings are later hailed by the state as a “big success”. Mirwaiz, who delivered the Friday sermon at Jamia Masjid in the city here, later unveiled a calendar and said it had been designed with “great care and meticulous attention”. tns