Mirwaiz North Kashmir condemns arrest of individuals on every National Day or VVIP visit to Kashmir
PTK NEWS DESK
Srinagar, August 10: Hundreds of Kashmiris, both young and old, have been taken into custody by the police in the past 4 days across the Kashmir valley in the name of being over-ground workers (OGWs) and as a security measure to celebrate the forthcoming Independence Day.
This is what Mirwaiz North Kashmir and Chairman Muslim Mutahida Mahaaz J&K Moulana Parray Hassan Afzal Firdousi has stated in his handout issued to the media today. He has appealed to the government to revisit the policy and direct the respective security agencies to desist from this practice of detaining people on the eve of national celebration events in Kashmir.
“Some among them are who may have had a past in militancy or any relative having past history of militancy, but now they all are law-abiding citizens for the last two decades. They are grandfathers, fathers, and livelihood-earners [for their families],” Mirwaiz Hassan Firdousi said .
He said the prevalent approach of said type of punishment has been in practice for the last three decades and has yielded no positive results.
He asked for a re-evaluation of existing lists, particularly of OGWs, and urged authorities to distinguish “fact from fiction”.
“Many of these OGWs were added to the list by Political interference. They got added because they didn’t vote for them, especially during 1996 to 2002,” he added.
“Hauling up a person who is a father , grandfather or brother to the local police station is a humiliating experience. How would youngsters in the family react to such events? Investment in youth is investment in Nation. Don’t turn them away. Let incidents of humiliation not cloud their judgment,” he said.
Mirwaiz Hassan Firdousi said Kashmiris were in the process of breaking free from a vicious cycle of violence. “These policing events act as impediments to the existing process,” he added.
At the end Mirwaiz Hassan Firdousi in his statement said, “People of J&K are in favour of peace with honour and dignity but unfortunately the government is not letting them live in peace and it harasses them in one way or other.”
