Geelani calls 3-day strike for return of Guru, Bhat’s mortal remains

Srinagar: Hurriyat Conference(G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani Monday called for a three-day shutdown to press for return of mortal remains of Muhammad Maqbool Bhat and Afzal Guru.
“Kashmiris will not rest until the Government of India returns the mortal remains of Maqbool Bhat and Afzal Guru,” Geelani said while calling for a complete shutdown in Kashmir on February 9, 10 and 11.
Geelani said that while National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah had paved way for the “murder of Muhammad Maqbool Bhat by signing his execution order,” Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had “lied that he was not taken into confidence before Guru was executed even as New Delhi acted on his suggestion that the hanging be carried out before the start of the so-called tourist season in Kashmir.”.
“Although thousands of people have laid down their lives, the martyrdom of Bhat and Guru hold a unique place in the annals of Kashmir’s freedom struggle,” Geelani said.
“While the execution of Maqbool Bhat proved to be a milestone in Kashmir’s freedom struggle, the hanging of Afzal Guru infused a new spirit into it,” Geelani said.
“The duo were executed for seeking rights and freedom for their people,” Geelani said, adding that the way the bodies of Bhat and Guru were buried in the premises of Tihar Jail had “exposed the hollow democracy India always boasts about.”
Geelani said while Guru’s hanging was widely condemned as politically- motivated , Omar had just shed “crocodile tears in the Legislative Assembly as part of the NC’s traditional vote-bank politics.”

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