“Let them arrest me, I am ready to get arrested”
By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Srinagar: Syed Ali Shah Geelani, separatist leader and Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman, on Thursday dismissed government’s accusation that Pakistani flags were waived during his welcome rally on Wednesday and said “Green color symbolizes Islam and not Pakistan.”
There has been a lot of hue and cry after supporters of recently released Masarat Alam, a hardline separatist, on Wednesday waived Pakistani flags and chanted pro-Pakistani slogans during a rally organised to welcome Geelani in Srinagar.
According to PTI report, Geelani and Alam, both have been put under house arrest as a preventive measure to ensure law and order. The move comes on the eve of their rally in Tral town in Pulwama district.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani (File photo)
“New Delhi based media created a wrong notion before the Indian audience that the national flags of Pakistan were raised in his rally. Whenever there are function of Muslim religious organizations, green color flags are waived. Even Jamat-e- Islami, Jamat-e-Ahl-e-Hadith and other religious organizations use green colored flags. ‘How comes green color be exclusively booked for Pakistan only?’ It is media which is misrepresenting the facts,” alleged Geelani.
While commenting over the lodging of First Information Report (FIR) against him on Wednesday, Geelani said he is used to such cases and reports. “There are already more than 90 FIRs registered against me. One more doesn’t make any difference. They can do whatever they want. Such tactics can in no way deter me at all,” he told KNS, a local news agency.
Maintaining that he was not scared of any arrest and that government action carries no importance for him, he said, “Let them arrest me. I am not scared. In fact, I am ready to get arrested.”
He alleged that national media was acting as a servant to the helmsmen and turned a blind eye towards the agony and plight of the suppressed people whose rights are being crushed everyday by the power corridors. “Media should have been the voice of the suppressed people who have been denied their birth right since decades but unfortunately, they have proved themselves as the ‘Yes men’ of power corridors,” Geelani further alleged.
He also opined that the government cannot take credit for allowing him to address the rally on Wednesday. “It is my right to express my views. Every person has a right to express his feelings. Is detaining a person for years and denying him his right to speak a legitimate entity?” he said.
(With inputs from KNS and PTI)