The Hindu : Front Page : Yasin Malik to go on hunger strike

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Sunday, Feb 04, 2007
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Yasin Malik to go on hunger strike

Shujaat Bukhari

"Continuing human rights violations will force Kashmiri youth to take up arms"

ANGUISHED KIN: Villagers console the wife and child of Ghulam Nabi Wani, who was killed allegedly in a fake encounter by the Army, at Ajas, a village 45 km from Srinagar. His body was exhumed on Saturday. - PHOTO: AP

SRINAGAR: Expressing anguish at the killing of innocent civilians in "fake" encounters, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Mohammad Yasin Malik threatened to go on a fast-unto-death if the human rights excesses in the State were not stopped. He warned that the continuing rights violations would force Kashmiri youth to take up arms.

Reminding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of his promise of "zero tolerance" made at the second round table conference, Mr. Malik told a news conference here on Saturday that he would wait for one and half months to see if the Prime Minister initiated measures to end the "rule of killer policemen."

"I want to convey to the Government of India that if the human rights violations do not end in one and a half months, I will go on a fast-unto-death," Mr. Malik said. He would go on a three-day hunger strike and take out a protest rally at Kokernag on Monday, besides calling for a state-wide strike on Tuesday.

Expressing dissatisfaction with the human rights situation in Kashmir, Mr. Malik said that Dr. Singh must understand how "uncontrolled" his forces had turned.

"This is my direct question to both the heads of the State, especially the Prime Minister of India, who gave a very big promise: has the promise gone waste? Manmohan Singh must know how his forces take a toll on innocent lives for [the sake of] money."

Mr. Malik wondered how India and Pakistan planned to resolve the Kashmir issue if the Kashmiris were not provided safety. Claiming that while people who served different periods of detention over the past 17 years were still harassed, Mr. Malik referred to other cases where criminals still roamed free.

"Violations like this indicate that the Government is either bent upon pushing Kashmiri youth to take up the gun again or make them join a mainstream political party," Mr. Malik said.

"If the Government wants to continue the peace process sincerely and solve the Kashmir issue, how can they do this by keeping killer officers at the helm of affairs?"

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