PM’s speech is old rhetoric: Hurriyat

Prime minister Manmohan Singh’s attempt to provide healing touch to Kashmiris has failed to cut ice among the Hurriyat hawks and doves in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who is spearheading the current agitation in the Valley, said prime minister had failed to address the issue. “People are on roads and they want their right to self-determination. India has deployed lakhs of armymen in Kashmir and more paramilitary forces are being pumped to strengthen their occupation of Kashmir,” he said.

Geelani asked the prime minister to accept Kashmir as disputed and start withdrawing the troops so that stage is set for tripartite dialogue to discuss further course of action for implementing the UN resolutions on Kashmir. “There is no change in our stand. We want nothing less than freedom,” he said.

Moderates too have rejected the healing touch of the prime minister. “It is the old song which the Prime Minister of India is singing. People are on roads holding peaceful protests seeking azadi because they have given sacrifices for the cause,” said Syed Saleem Geelani, spokesman of the moderate Hurriyat Conference.

Saleem said the current movement was led by the people and they want nothing but “freedom” from India. “For 70 years, India has been avoiding to accept the reality. Today people have launched a peaceful movement. There is no leader who is guiding it. It is the common masses who want their right to self determination,” he said. Geelani asked Delhi to take steps for the resolution of the Kashmir issue.