Hizb calls for strike in Kashmir

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, MARCH 18. The Hizbul Mujahideen has given a call for strike in Kashmir on March 20 to protest the alleged manhandling of the senior All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, by the police.

The central command of the Hizb at a meeting in Muzaffarabad, under the chairmanship of Syed Salahuddin, condemned today Dr. Farooq Abdullah's Government for its alleged `inhuman' treatment of Kashmiris engaged in struggle against the Government. Within hours of the Hizb announcement of its decision, several Pakistan militant organisations including the Lashkar-e- Taiba supported the call for strike and hailed Syed Ali Shah Geelani as a `true hero of the liberation struggle'.

The Lashkar chief, Prof. Hafeez Sayeed, said that dedicated workers of the outfit would step up suicide attacks. The Harkat- ul-Mujahideen and Al-Badar also announced their support to the strike call and appealed to the other militant and political organisations in Kashmir to make the strike a success. In a separate statement on Saturday night the Pakistan Government condemned the detention of Geelani and urged the India to abandon what it termed as `policy of repression and terror in its futile attempt to maintain its illegal occupation of Kashmir'.

In a press statement here a spokesman of the Foreign Office accused authorities of use of force including firing on Friday to `suppress large-scale' peaceful demonstrations in Kashmir.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Front Page
Previous : BJP has become 'Congressised': RSS
Next     : Kanpur toll up