SRINAGAR, April 28 (TNS): Chairman Hurriyat Conference (M) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq condemned the use of brute force occupational against the student protests across Kashmir terming it as “frustration on the part puppet government.”
He said it has become “a policy of successive regimes in J&K to crush and choke voice of all segments of society through its military might.”
Addressing Friday congregational gathering at the historic Jamia Masjid here yesterday, the Mirwaiz said that for past many weeks the student protests against the gruesome rape and murder of Kathua “are facing the same wrath by the government forces which people of Kashmir have become familiar with whenever they protest against injustice.”
“The response of forces to the student protests is not just shameful but an act of war against the student community,” he said.
He said a large presence of government forces remain deployed outside the premises of colleges, schools, and universities to “instill fear among students” and if the students protest even within the premises of these institutes they become victims of forces’ pellets, teargas and pava shells.
He condemned in strong words the use of force inside the premises of Islamic University Campus at Awantipore in which dozens of students sustained injuries.
He urged the students to keep their protests peaceful by all means.
Mirwaiz said while as students across the globe have a freedom to put forth their viewpoints and vent their feelings through student unions and fora, Kashmir is an exception to this rule as all means of expression are barred to the students and instead bullets, pellets and teargas shells are showered on them.
However, he said, “repressive measures used by the rulers to quell all voices seem to be in the last phase, as every segment of people of Kashmir is fully committed to resist it and be free from forcible control of New Delhi.”
