Govt remained silent for ten days on rally: Geelani Hurriyat

Srinagar, Apr 30 (UNI) The breakaway Hurriyat Conference, led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, today said the Jammu and Kashmir government had failed to respond for about ten days to its application seeking permission to organise a public rally here on April 22.

Breakaway Hurriyat Conference spokesman Ayaz Akbar said the amalgam had submitted the application with the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, on April 12.

Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Aijaz Iqbal confirmed that his office had received the application from the Hurriyat on April 12.

''Yes, we had received the application. They (Geelani Hurriyat) had sought permission to organise the public meeting. But, we had not given permission to hold the rally. Police had also not given the clearance,'' he told UNI.

However, Mr Iqbal did not mention if the refusal letter had been sent to the breakaway Hurriyat Conference.

In the application, the separatist amalgam had sought permission to organise a public rally at Eidgah to accord a grand reception to Mr Geelani on his return here from New Delhi where he was recuperating following his kidney surgery at the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital in Mumbai on March 26.

Mr Akbar said the district administration issued a proper receipt of the application.

''There was no response to our application till April 22 morning.

We thought the district administration had no objection to our proposed public meeting and went ahead with the rally,'' he added.

The spokesman said the district administration deliberately chose to remain silent on the issue for about ten days. ''The government could have denied us permission and we would have been forced to cancel the rally,'' he added.

Mr Akbar said the government was ''shaken and disturbed'' by the overwhelming response to the public meeting. ''The government in an act of desperation has unleashed a reign of terror on the Hurriyat leaders. It is using all kinds of repressive measures to suppress the voice of the people,'' he added. The Hurriyat leaders cannot be cowed down by such acts, the spokesman added.

A controversy erupted over the rally after a section of media reported that militants belonging to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Hizbul Mujahideen were present at the public meeting. It was further alleged that the flags of the two militant outfits were also raised at the rally.

However, police, in a press note, denied there was a display of arms and ammunition in the rally and said no flag of any banned militant outfit had been spotted at the public meeting.

They said flags, bearing religious writings, of several parties from different areas of the Kashmir valley were displayed at the public meeting.

MORE UNI