Alwaght- The freedom of Indian held Kashmir “is very much in sight”, Top Kashmiri resistance leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani said on Friday.
The opposition leader was supposed to speak at his first news conference inside the Indian held Kashmiri region since the start of the latest pro-democracy uprisings but Indian security officers stopped journalists from reaching his residence.
"The current phase of the freedom struggle has provided a powerful push towards our goal of freedom, which is very much in sight,” he said in a statement that his office released Friday around noon
Referring to the determination and steadfastness of Kashmiri protestors on their journey to freedom against “half a million Indian guns”, Geelani added “Our occupier [India] has the world’s third largest army. It has the world’s largest paramilitary force, most of which is stationed in Kashmir. We are people of resistance. We have no resources. We have no army. We have no media. But our greatest strength is our truth, unity and our determination to free ourselves from the yoke of this evil occupation."
The Indian crackdown on recent protests, most violent since 2010, has claimed lives of over 60 civilians and two security forces while thousands also were wounded. They also have closed all educational centers in a bid to stop further protest mostly orchestrated by young students.
The opposition leader urged fellow Kashmiris to continue their mass demonstrations against Indian rule and said “From the streets to the leadership we are all united in our freedom struggle against India and no matter whether the Indian occupying forces keep us under curfews or arrest us in prisons or in our homes, they will never succeed in severing the cord that joins us in our collective yearning for our freedom. We are and we must stay united; our unity is the death o6f our enemy."
Mr. Geelani is under house arrest at his residence in Kashmir but other prominent opposition leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Yasin Malik and Shabir Shah are all in Indian prisons.
In 2008 when the state government decided to sell a plot of land to non-resident Hindus for building a shrine, the big and peaceful people's defiance was met with bloody repression.
Also, in 2010 a year of turmoil ended with the death of 92 people in this region. According to Hindi sources the death toll from last two decade's disputes in Kashmir has topped 65,000.
