Army’s Assertion On AFSPA Vindicates Our Stand: Pro-freedom Camp

Srinagar, Nov 12: Terming the army’s assertion that “India would be forced to grant independence to Jammu and Kashmir by 2016 if the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was revoked from the state,” as a vindication of separatists’ standpoint, pro-freedom groups Saturday said it was “a clear proof that India was holding Kashmir by dint of its military might.”
Hurriyat Conference (M) said the army general’s statement reflected the bitter truth that “India was occupying Kashmir only through its army. It also proves that people of Kashmir don’t want to remain with India”.
In a statement, an amalgam spokesman reiterated its stand that “issues cannot be resolved through use of force and only meaningful dialogue on Kashmir can lead to peace and stability in the Indo-Pak subcontinent.”
“One can hope that after this open admission of bitter realities by army, New Delhi would start a purposeful dialogue process with Pakistan and Kashmiri leadership to resolve the issue,” the spokesman said.
“Even National Conference leader, Mustafa Kamaal’s statement that governments in Jammu and Kashmir owe their survival to army and New Delhi should serve as an eye-opener to pro-India parties in Kashmir,” the spokesman added.
“However, the realistic approach of Kamaal notwithstanding, one cannot ignore the fact that this party ( NC) has tried to hoodwink Kashmiris by raising the bogey of special status to Jammu and Kashmir or the revocation of black laws like AFSPA ,” he said. “Political somersaults and trickery have been the culture of this party and time has proven that for the sake of power, National Conference didn’t even hesitate to shake hands with those it once described as forbidden fruit,” the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Hurriyat Conference (G) said the army had “unintentionally admitted the truth regarding Kashmir.”
In a statement, the amalgam spokesman said, “They (army) have admitted that India is in Jammu and Kashmir because of its military and it cannot hold onto Kashmir even for a day without the armed forces and the black laws giving impunity to them.”
The spokesman said that in the wake of the “changing” international scenario, military cannot hold any nation by force for too long.
“The basic demand of Kashmiris is an end to India’s military occupation of Kashmir and ASFPA and other black laws are just offshoots of this,” he said, adding that if Disturbed Areas Act, Public Safety Act, AFSPA and other “black laws” are lifted from Jammu and Kashmir, India won’t “find even a single person in Jammu and Kashmir ready to accept its sovereignty.”
“How long can India suppress the voice of Kashmiris? If India doesn’t acknowledge the realities, it would be isolated and despite all its military and economic resources stand as nothing before the international community.”
Terming the chief minister, Omar Abdullah, and his party’s statements on AFSPA as “mere vote bank politics,” the spokesman said that Omar was well aware of his “helplessness”before the army.
“These pro-India parties have been deceiving Kashmiris right from 1947. They are only concerned with power and not whether Kashmiris live or die. If any of them is really sincere, he should shun this power politics and join the national struggle for freedom,” he said.
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front also termed the army’s statement as “evidence of Indian armed forces occupying Kashmir.”
“It's a self-admission of Kashmir being under military occupation and New Delhi trying to prolong this occupation through its paid agents. It also shows that the army has failed to suppress the freedom sentiment of Kashmiris during the past 64 years,” JKLF acting chairman, Advocate Bashir Ahmad Bhat, said during a meeting at the party’s Maisuma office.
-PBI