[Reader-list] Kashmir Struggle NOT Islamist - Says Mirwaiz

[rashneek kher]

I wish Mirwaiz could put some action behind his hollow words.
That he uses the pulpit of Hazratbal to propogate secular thought itself
says a lot.
The slogan of fuzzy "azaadi" was heard loud and clear here in Delhi as
well.I need not repeat it.By the way why were hundreds of Hindu houses burnt
and temples razed to ground if the Azadi isnt Islamist.

On Sun, Aug 22, 2010 at 7:07 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net>wrote:

> Dear All,
>
> This was in today's edition of the Indian Express. I thought it would be of
> interest to people on the list, not just because of the categorical
> rejection by the chairman of the Hurriyat Conference (M) of a communal and
> Islamist direction for the movement against the occupation in the Kashmir
> valley, but also, especially as some of the people on the list have been
> very exercised on the issue of the anonymous 'letters' sent to Sikhs and
> Sikh places of worship, which the Mirwaiz explicitly refers to here.
>
> regards,
>
> Shuddha
> ---------------------
> Our struggle not Islamist, says Mirwaiz
> Express News Service
> Indian Express, August 22, 2010
>
> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/our-struggle-not-islamist-says-mirwaiz/663459/
>
> Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Saturday lashed out at the forces
> “bent on branding the struggle in Kashmir as Islamist”. The letters urging
> Sikhs to embrace Islam, he said, was a part of this gameplan.
>
> “We think the indigenous nature of the ongoing uprising has unnerved some
> forces to start conspiring against the movement,” Mirwaiz told The Sunday
> Express. “Otherwise how can a few anonymous letters delivered to a few Sikh
> households be treated as the voice of the Valley’s majority population.”
>
> He alleged the letters were the handiwork of intelligence agencies. “This
> is part of the deliberate strategy to float the letters and blow the news
> story about them in a section of media,” Mirwaiz said, adding that when it
> came to reporting on the ongoing unrest, media was generally not so
> enthusiastic. “This place has lost 60 people in two months and there is no
> sense of outrage”.
>
> Mirwaiz said Sikhs are an inalienable part of the valley’s cultural fabric
> and assured them of safety. “The community has lived with the majority
> community through thick and thin. And together we will brave the trials and
> tribulations in future,” he said.
>
> The Hurriyat leader said Kashmir’s movement is not Islamist. “Kashmir’s
> struggle is not about Muslim versus Hindu or Muslim Kashmir versus Hindu
> India,’ Mirwaiz said. “But some forces are trying to give a communal colour
> to the freedom movement. I urge Hindus,Sikhs and other minority community
> members to not pay attention to such letters or warnings.”
>
> Meanwhile, the J&K has denied reports that Sikhs have been harassed. A
> government spokesman said such reports were meant to malign the secular
> image of Kashmiris. Pointing out that just the other day a group of people
> had performed the last rites of a person from another community, he said all
> communities were living amicably in the Valley.
>
> The ugly isolated incident occurred at Tral in Pulwama district around
> three weeks ago, and it was unanimously condemned, the spokesman said,
> adding CM Omar Abdullah has assured Sikhs that steps would be taken to
> strengthen mutual ties between all the communities living in the Valley.
>
>
> Shuddhabrata Sengupta
> The Sarai Programme at CSDS
> Raqs Media Collective
> shuddha at sarai.net
> www.sarai.net
> www.raqsmediacollective.net
>
>
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-- 
Rashneek Kher
http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com
http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com