Modi govt using ‘fake letters to malign Hurriyat leadership’

ISLAMABAD: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has said after failing to weaken the freedom sentiments of Kashmiris, India is continuing with its cheap and immoral tactics to issue fake letters attributed to veteran Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani to malign Hurriyat leadership and the freedom struggle in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

According to the Kashmir Media Service (KMS), the APHC spokesman issued a statement in Srinagar, saying the aim of releasing such fake letters was to defame the freedom struggle, drive a wedge between Geelani and Pakistan as well as creating chaos and uncertainty among the freedom-loving parties affiliated with the Hurriyat Conference.

He said the Kashmiri people would never forgive those who had vested interests and had been active in heinous conspiracies of the Indian intelligence agencies in the guise of supporters of the liberation movement.

He said the fake letters were being issued taking advantage of the continued house detention of the veteran Hurriyat leader, his old age and his deteriorating health condition. The spokesman made it clear that India would never succeed in its nefarious designs and the Hurriyat Conference would never give up its rightful liberation struggle due to such pressure.

He said India should remember that the entire Kashmiri people stand with the APHC and that it will not leave the Kashmiri people alone at this crucial juncture. He added the APHC would take the freedom movement to its logical conclusion by making Geelani as their guide and role model.

Meanwhile, New Delhi-based Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has moved the Indian Human Rights Commission (IHRC), seeking a probe into last month’s killing of three youths in a fake encounter in Shopian district.

According to the KMS, the so-called encounter took place on July 18 when the Indian army claimed to have killed three alleged militants in Amshipora village in Shopian during a cordon and search operation.

However, a little over two weeks thereafter, complaints were lodged in Rajouri area by the families of these youths. The families said those killed in Shopian and then dubbed as militants were their wards who had gone there to work as labourers, adding they went out of contact with them from July 17.

The CITU’s Jammu and Kashmir Unit General Secretary, Om Prakash, in a complaint to the IHRC filed through Indian Supreme Court advocate Subhash Chandran, expressed concern over the questionable encounter last month and demanded a thorough investigation to bring out the factual aspects of the case.

The petitioner demanded from the commission to seek initiation of appropriate criminal as well as departmental action against those involved in the fake encounter. He also asked the commission to direct the authorities for paying adequate compensation to the affected families.