SRINAGAR: Hard-line separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani yesterday demanded the merger of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan, as leaders of the moderate Hurriyat faction spoke about independence and a dialogue over the state, triggering a leadership and ideological clash in the Muslim-dominated valley.
In yet another exhibition of pro-Independence sentiment, tens of thousands of people waving green and black flags and shouting pro-freedom slogans converged on the city center to present a memorandum to the United Nations Military Observers Group Office (UNMOG) located in the sensitive locality at Sonwar.
Addressing the mammoth gathering at the Tourist Reception Center here, octogenarian Geelani said there was “no solution to the Kashmir issue other than merger with Pakistan.” “We are Pakistanis and Pakistan is us because we are tied with the country through Islam,” he roared, as the crowd cheered and chanted pro-Pakistani slogans along with him.
Much to the surprise of the moderate Hurriyat leaders, who were sharing the stage with him, Geelani said the leadership issue of the Kashmiri separatist movement was “solved today.”
“Do you have faith in my leadership? I will be faithful to you till my death and will carry everyone along,” he said, as the crowd applauded him shouting in the affirmative.
Moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Omar Farooq in his speech earlier called for a trilateral dialogue over Jammu and Kashmir. “We ask India to start a dialogue over Kashmir, open the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road for trade and release all Kashmiris in Indian jails,” he said. Muzaffarabad is the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Pro-independence leader Yasin Malik said that Kashmiris want “complete freedom” — implying from both India and Pakistan. “Is paar bhi lenge azadi, us paar bhi lenge azadi” (we will free both Kashmirs) was Malik’s slogan, as the crowd also cheered him.
