NADEEM NADU
Srinagar, Oct 7 (GNS):The Chairman of Ummat-e-Islami and Mirwaiz of South Kashmir, Qazi Ahmed Yasir has called for Redwani Chalo on October 12 against the establishment of Army camps in South Kashmir.
He also said that Ummat-e-Islami will enact ballot boxes at all the main squares of South Kashmir where people will be asked to chose between “Azadi and India.”
“We request people to come out in great numbers and defeat India on the day of elections in South Kashmir,” Mirwaiz South Kashmir said while addressing a presser.
Mirwaiz said that despite his ill health, and a day after coming back from a Hyderabad Hospital, he visited the Redwani Kulgam area where an Army camp has been recently established. The people of the area are observing complete strike since then.
Mirwaiz said that four camps are located in a distance of less than three kilometers in Singam, In Frisal, in Khudwani and now in Redwani Bala. “This heavy presence of Army has intimidated the local population at the area of more than 6000 inhabitants,” he said.
Mirwaiz said that the state of Jammu Kashmir has the population of more than 12 million, as according to the 2011 census, the number of inhabitants in the state was 12,548,925. “There is an estimated 700,000 security forces, giving it an extremely high 70:1200 force to population ratio. “It is not a small number. So in reality India has deployed 1-soldier to 12-Kashmiri civilians.”
He said that Army has forcibly snatched land from the locals, chopped off at least a thousand trees worth Rs 30 lakhs and did not take anyone’s permission. “The locals told me they are also planning for mass migration if the camp is not removed from this area.”
Referring to one Mohammed Maqbool Malik, a local of Redwani, Mirwaiz said he had saved the trees for the marriage of his two daughters. “However the Army overnight chopped them all, devastating the life of Maqbool,” Mirwaiz Said.
“Suspicion and fear continue to permeate the residents of the Redwani area. A knock on the door late at night sends spasms of anxiety through households, afraid that a family member will be asked by the Government forces to step outside for “a minute” and then never return. Psychological trauma related to the violence has been enormous, as life itself is constantly under threat,” Mirwaiz Qazi Yasir said.
Regarding elections, he said: “We will tell the Army that we are not afraid of them, we will come out in huge numbers and defeat their nation, their elections,” Mirwaiz Qazi Yasir said.
“I want to ask a very simple question. Why are Municipal elections and Panchayat elections necessary when your Islamabad Parliamentary seat has been vacant for the past three years? Why is it that the life of less important or less privileged people is put under stake? It is of course the poor who will participate in the elections, Why is the Indian Government wanting to widen its vote bank politics on the blood of common Kashmiris? Everyone must understand this and try to disassociate himself/ herself from the bogus drama.”
He added: “We cannot have elections under the barrel of the gun, You cannot be having camps, more armed soldiers and then boast of fair elections, the Centre has provided additional 400 companies of central paramilitary forces to secure the election process.”
He said that Ummat-e-Islami will keep ballot boxes at every main square of Islamabad and ask people to come out and choose between “independence and India.”
He demanded the release of Political prisoners including Sarjan Barkati, Shabir Shah and others.
