UJC rejects Mirwaiz call to end armed struggle

Srinagar, Jan 21: The United Jehad Council (UJC), an amalgam of several militant groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir, today rejected outright moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq's call to end the ''armed struggle'' in the Valley.

''The militant leaders are shocked by the baseless and uncalled for statements of the Mirwaiz and his colleagues who are ignorant of the background and realities of the Kashmir issue,'' the Muzaffarabad-based UJC said in a statement to the local media here.

''The statements of the Mirwaiz and his colleagues may please some Western circles and the Indian leaders, but it cannot change the ground realities in Jammu and Kashmir,'' a UJC spokesman said.

Mirwaiz Farooq, who is at present on a visit to Pakistan, had called for giving up the ''armed struggle'' to pave the way for fruitful negotiations for a lasting settlement of the Kashmir issue.

The Mirwaiz stated this after a series of meetings with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and other leaders in Islamabad.

Speaking after a meeting with Pakistan-occupied Kashmir leaders at the Kashmir House in Islamabad last night, the moderate Hurriyat Chairman had said the peaceful negotiations were the only way out.

''We have already seen the results of our fight on the political, diplomatic and military fronts which have not achieved anything other than creating more graveyards,'' the Mirwaiz said.

''Some people involved in the armed struggle could still have some reservations, but as far as the Hurriyat Conference was concerned, we are not prepared to sacrifice any more of our loved ones,'' he added.

The moderate Hurriyat chairman also claimed that with their new strategy, they would convince India to arrive at a more agreeable settlement of the Kashmir issue. The Mirwaiz is accompanied by senior leaders, Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat and Bilal Ghani Lone, on the visit. The UJC spokesman said the militant leaders had made it clear time and again that only a strongly coordinated state-wide armed struggle, enjoying the patronage of sincere, robust and representative (political) leadership, could take the freedom ''movement'' to its logical end.

''A freedom movement can weaken due to any temporary defeat, it can also grow longer than the anticipated time but it can never die down unless the freedom seekers surrender themselves before the tyrants out of spinelessness,'' the spokesman said.

He also rejected the reported statement of the Mirwaiz that the UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir had become redundant.

The people saying such things appeared to have forgotten the fact that these resolutions made Pakistan a party to the Kashmir issue, the spokesman added.

''The people who make mockery of the issue's recognised status as well as the sacrifices of Kashmiris have no right to take any decision or give suggestions...'' He claimed that the people of Jammu and Kashmir had taken up arms against their will after failure of their peaceful political and diplomatic struggle spanning more than 42 years.

During the ongoing-armed struggle and prior to that, the spokesman claimed that nearly 475,000 people laid down their lives for the ''noble cause of freedom'' while material losses worth billions of rupees and other ''inhuman atrocities unleashed by the occupying forces'' were in addition to that. ''These unmatched sacrifices were not offered for self rule, internal autonomy or for that matter for an irrelevant ceasefire line (Line of Control), but for the Kashmiris' internationally acknowledged and inalienable right to self determination.'' Those who have turned a blind eye towards these sacrifices and were showing signs of retreat have no right to lead the nation, the spokesman added.

''If the Mirwaiz and other leaders of his like have become tired, disenchanted or hopeless about the future of freedom struggle due to adverse circumstances, we suggest them to sit back in their homes to lead a life of comfort. But they should not teach the lesson of cowardice and hopelessness to the caravan of freedom seekers.'' The spokesman said the people of Jammu and Kashmir had proved, by observing a strike on January 17, that they could not back out from their ''sacred mission'' and were instead prepared to ''shed the last drop of their blood to achieve this goal''.

He said the Mirwaiz knew well that he could not secure release of even two detainees from New Delhi during the several rounds of talks with the Indian leaders, while showing unilateral flexibility and deviation from the traditional stand of Kashmiris.

''When the Indian government could mercilessly push the most popular and towering Kashmiri politician such as Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah to the wall, then what is the worth of this group of people who have conflicting views and interest,'' the spokesman said.

He said the militant leaders had expressed serious desire that all ''sincere political leaders'' should unite to achieve the right to self determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir because friction and differences among them had caused irreparable losses to the ''freedom movement''.

''Still there is time for political leaders to rise above their personal and organisational egos and interests and launch joint struggle for right to self determination and freedom. Otherwise, there will be no space for them in the chapters of history,'' the spokesman added.

UNI

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