BLUNT BUTCHER
JAMMU: Equating Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru and Sukhdev with stone pelters and drug addict Jihadis operating in Kashmir is just ridiculous. The comparison speaks volumes about the sick minds of separatists, who have not gone beyond their pay packs coming from across the borders that have not only blindfolded them but also squeezed sense of proportion as well.
Seeking release of terrorists, stone pelters and those engaged in war against sovereignty of India, Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani has stated that “the people like Bhagat Singh, Sukh Dave and Raj Guru who led an armed struggle for the freedom of India, are not remembered as terrorists but they are treated as national heroes by the India and they are supposed to be respected by the every section of the society.” In the same breath, he equates the great martyrs of the Indian sub-continent with ruffians who have brought untold miseries to their brethren. Geelani justifies the demand for their release, saying, “So in this way the people who have chosen this path for getting the right to self determination of the people of Kashmir are in no way any professional criminals and nor have they anything to do with the terrorism. They are people with solid ideologies and they are well read people.”
If that be so, will Geelani and his ilk explain as to who created havoc in the Valley in early nineties that led to killing of thousands, irrespective of their religious affiliations and exodus of a whole lot of miniscule minority? Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru and Sukhdev offered their lives for freeing Mother India, an abode of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, from the shackles of British. They never allowed religion to come in the way of freedom struggle of Indians as a whole. The myopic mindset of Kashmiri secessionists have caused ripples in the society and a deep wedge between communities. They have promoted and encouraged the lunatics who killed innocents in cold blood. In the name of so-called Azadi, their loved Jihadis got engaged in selective killings to free Kashmir from, what they call, infidels.
Lately, Geelani tends to pretend as messiah. As latest as yesterday he made a lofty sermon by saying that minorities of Jammu and Kashmir are “our brothers and they are safe in the hands of Muslims but for the completion of their dangerous designs, the communal forces of India want to disturb this century’s old brotherhood of the people of Kashmir”. Where had this spirit gone when Hizbul Mujahideen, a militant face of his Jammat-e-Islami, came to the forefront and sought exodus of the minority community within 48 hours. Their hearts did not bleed at that point of time. They did not feel the pain of scared minorities selling their properties in distress at throw away prices. They did not also invoke their writ to stop encroachment of land belonging to the minority community and their worship places.
If secessionists are really the custodians of minorities, will they explain the motive behind gruesome terror acts when people belonging to minority communities were eliminated? To quote a few, 15 Hindu passengers were massacred in Kishtwar on 14th August 1993; seven Pandits were kidnapped and killed in Sangrampora on 21st March 1997, 23 Kashmiri Hindus were murdered in Wandhama on 25th January 1998, 18 members of a Hindu family were shot dead in Pranakote village of Udhampur district on 17th April 1998 followed by assassination of 20 wedding guests at Champnagri mountains of Doda on June 1998; 15 persons including eight women died in a terrorist attack in Doda District on 19th July 1999; 34 Sikhs were segregated from the residents forced out in Chattisingpora, Kashmir on 20 March 2000 and killed selectively. Who has forgotten killing of 48 persons at the Base Camp of Shri Amarnathji Yatra at Pahalgam on 1st August 2000 or massacre of four pilgrims and three security guards in a terrorist attack on Raghunath Temple in Jammu on 30th March 2002. Jammu Railway Station terror attack still haunts the residents of the Temple City.
These are few of the atrocities which ‘Mujahids’ of the Kashmiri separatists have committed in pursuit of political objectives. They stand exposed before the civilised world, which is framing up its stand against global terror in unequivocal terms.
After losing face and agenda in the wake of successful elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Kashmiri secessionists are raising emotive issues apart from inciting passions for remaining relevant to the situation in the Valley. The people have marginalised them by treating their diktats on election boycott with the contempt it deserved. Their attempt to ignite the society on emotive slogans will not gain them space they have already lost.
