Srinagar: Saying that he has never asked the government to provide security cover to him, Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday said that the dispensation is free to withdraw its police personnel.

“I reiterate that Government is free to withdraw the police personnel as and when it wants as I have never asked for it,” Mirwaiz said while addressing a Friday congregational prayers at the historic Jamia Masjid here. 

“The propaganda of police cover provided to me is being raked up and exploited by the government. Drums are being beaten about the expenditure incurred on the cover. What is obvious is the pettiness of such people that they can play politics even on such an issue,” he said.

“As a Muslim for me as for my ancestors it is our belief that safety of a human being is best guaranteed by Allah as we are in his protection,” he said, adding that “for me, as for my ancestors duas and prayers of my people are also my protection and their selfless love and trust in me my strength and assets.”

Mirwaiz said after the Shahadat of his father, police personnel were already stationed at his house when he returned from Mirwaiz Manzil Rajori Kadal where his family and he were staying for two months.

“When we inquired it was communicated that it was obligatory on the state to provide the cover based on their assessment of threat perception to me after my father’s Shahadat, and will not be removed. Since then they are stationed here. While hundreds of crores are spent on the police cover provided to thousands of people in the state, singling me out and drumming it up when they very well know the background of the whole issue shows their shallowness,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mirwaiz said that government of India with the support of local supporters has always undermined the establishment of a strong peoples’ leadership as they fear that such leadership which represents peoples’ aspirations and enjoys their full support.

“It is a huge political challenge for them,” he said.

Mirwaiz said that the past 70 years of the political struggle bear testimony that while there have been those who badly betrayed the peoples trust reposed in them and are equally responsible for the current misery, there have been great leaders among the people like Mirwaiz Yousuf Shah Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas Sufi Mohammad Akbar Amanulah Khan Shaheed Maqbool Bhat Shaheed-e-Millat Mirwaiz Molvi Farooq and others who despite being subject to pain and hardships of exile and jails allurements and appeasements by the adversary never gave in or compromised their integrity and the peoples trust in them and even sacrificed their lives for it.

Mirwaiz said the current people’s leadership is equally committed. “It is sincere and steadfast and like the tremendous sacrifices being offered by the people especially youth, it is also facing hardships,” he said.

Mirwaiz said since 1947, all governments ruling India know that sincere and strong leadership is a threat to their control on Kashmir, so they have constantly undermined it.

“When repressive means of jailing, detaining, curbing and confining the leadership fails devious tactics to discredit leadership and malign them is adopted. Viscous propaganda, lies and personal smear campaigns are launched on print and electronic or social media and facts are twisted and manipulated,” he said.

He said the NIA investigation ‘drama’ to intimidate and badmouth leadership and dishearten people and disillusions them from their just political movement and their leadership has proved to be a failure for the agencies, as people saw through it.

“The lies and fabrications spread did not hold and the harassment caused to us and those close to us did not deter the leadership. Yet leaders and activists have been detained in Tihar jail in scorching heat and hostile conditions,” he added.

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