SRINAGAR: J&K High Court Bar Association (HCBA) Srinagar today condemned the summoning of Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and the son of Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
“Mirwaiz Umar Farooq besides being the chairman of Hurriyat Conference (M) is also the Mirwaiz of Kashmir, leads the Friday prayers at Jamia Masjid Srinagar and is held by the Muslims of Kashmir in high esteem. By summoning him, the National Investigating Agency is actually going to subject him to humiliation and intimidation, only because he is also spearheading the Kashmiri’s ongoing struggle for right of self-determination and demands that Kashmir issue be settled peacefully and in accordance with the wishes of the people so as to establish peace and tranquillity in Jammu and Kashmir, where the people are facing the onslaught of Indian forces for the last 70 years in general and from 1990 in particular,” the Bar spokesman said after an executive members’ meeting here.
“Naseem Geelani, who was summoned to New Delhi during 2017-18 a number of times in the FIR has again been asked to appear before the NIA just to put pressure on Syed Ali Shah Geelani and force him to succumb to the pressure tactics and accept the dictates of Indian government to abandon the demand of settling the Kashmir issue in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions,” the Bar said.
“It was also stated at the meeting that by adopting such tactics, the government of India and its agencies will not achieve anything, as this process is bound to alienate the people of Kashmir further and strengthen their belief of getting rid of the atrocities and brutalities by taking their struggle for right of self-determination to its logical end,” the spokesman said.
“The Bar members also expressed their serious concern over the slapping of PSA on JKLF chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik and Jama’at-e-Islami chief spokesman Advocate Zahid Ali and others. International community should play its effective role in getting them freed unconditionally, as their arrest and detention is unwarranted and against all cannons of law guaranteeing freedom of speech and expression as well as the right to life and liberty.”