By IRNA,
Srinagar, India : A top Kashmiri leader questioned the justification of adding to the miseries of the Kashmiri people by staging what he described as “the election charade” if, according to him, it had already been decided whom to bring to power in the state.
“If the government of India does not realize the ground realities in Jammu and Kashmir and is oblivious to the hardships of the people, being indifferent to whether the electorate votes or stays away, what is the justification of staging the drama of elections,” said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, leader of the All parties Hurriyat Conference, Friday in Srinagar.
Miwaiz asserted that the people in Kashmir had totally no interest in the electoral process.
Speaking on phone from his heavily guarded home where he was placed under house arrest, the Mirwaiz said that it was a matter of pain and shame that pro-India parties, who, according to him had been mute spectators to the hardships of the public during the recent mass uprising, had leapt into the fray to try their old tactics the moment the bugle for the spoils of power was sounded.
“They don’t even feel ashamed to say ‘let the people and pro- freedom parties fight for liberty,’ we will enjoy the fruits of power,” he said.
“The manner in which the people openly expressed their sentiments by responding overwhelmingly to our calls has sent an unmistakable message not only to the international community but to the intellectuals and the conscientious sections in India as well about what the people here really desire,” he said.
“The government of India must accept the fact that the youth and children who took active part in the ongoing revolution have clearly demonstrated that the movement had successfully been transferred from one generation to the next, and that the youth were resolute to carry the peaceful struggle for freedom forward,” he said.
“Therefore, India must accept this reality, and take steps to resolve the long-standing Kashmir dispute permanently in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people,” he said.