Make Geelani pay for mayhem unleashed in Kashmir!

DOST KHAN / ANCHOR

JAMMU: By shedding skin, snakes do not lose their characteristics. In fact, they shed their skins to remove parasites that may have attached to their old skins. Similarly, by quitting Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani has only moved away from the parasites in the party to find more dreaded associates to inject venom into the Kashmir terror regime.
Geelani belongs to the genre that shrewdly pursues the crafted agenda with a ruthless mission, which may be idealistic for those who admire him and sinister for those who do not. Admiration or adulation notwithstanding, let it be known, Geelani will not give up his hardcore agenda till his last when the roll call will come, howsoever efforts the pseudo rationalists or self proclaimed champions of human rights groups in India put in. He will keep spitting venom against India and it is this venom which he will be bequeathing to the generation next, if he is not exposed and prosecuted for all the wrongs committed during three decades of Kashmir turmoil.
Passing on venom, gestated over decades, to generation next will mean poisoning of so many generations of Kashmir in times to come. Can Kashmiris afford this? And, can India allow it?
Syed Ali Shah Geelani carries a baggage of Kashmir destruction on his shoulders. Not only has the hardcore hawk pushed the Valley to the wall but he has also supervised, though indirectly, the mayhem and carnages alien to once paradise on this earth. Apart from ruining families in terms of pushing their children to the terror regime, he cannot absolve himself from the terror acts spread in the length and breadth of Jammu and Kashmir, in the name of Jihad, that took a toll of thousand in the past three decades. His Jihad has manifested in tragedies of immense magnitude. To quote a few, 15 Hindu passengers were massacred in Kishtwar on 14 August 1993; seven Pandits were kidnapped and killed in Sangrampora on 21 March 1997, 23 Kashmiri Hindus were murdered in Wandhama on 25 January 1998, 18 members of a Hindu family were shot dead in Pranakote village of Udhampur district on 17 April 1998 followed by assassination of 20 wedding guests at Champnagri mountains of Doda in June 1998; 15 persons including eight women died in a terrorist attack in Doda district on 19 July 1999; 34 Sikhs were segregated from the residents forced out in Chattisingpora, Kashmir on 20 March 2000 and killed selectively. Who has forgotten the killing of 48 persons at the base camp of Shri Amarnathji Yatra at Pahalgam on 1 August 2000 or massacre of four pilgrims and three security guards in a terrorist attack on Raghunath temple in Jammu on 30 March 2002. Jammu Railway Station terror attack still haunts the residents of the temple city. These are few of the atrocities which Geelani’s ‘Mujahids’ have committed in pursuit of achieving sinister objectives of seceding Kashmir from India.
No government, either in New Delhi or in Srinagar, ever dared to take the bull by the horns despite having enough material to prosecute the chief separatist Geelani. The maximum they have done so far has been to put him under house arrest, which has become a big joke of three decade terrorism in Kashmir. One moment he remains under preventive detention and only the next moment the ‘siege’ is lifted. Now, even the authorities must have lost the count as to how many times Geelani has been put under house arrest in recent years.
Successive governments have made heroes of villains in the guise of separatists. This speaks of the level of dilemma the dispensations in New Delhi and in Srinagar are in. They seem to be clueless on tackling both terrorism and secessionism on the same plank, notwithstanding the fact that they were just two faces of the same coin. The lack of strong action against the law breakers suits the purpose of offenders only, as their profile as hardcore separatists gets fattened by inept governmental actions. Why is Geelani being arrested or put under house arrest only when he needs medical attention? No sooner is he arrested, he finds himself in the premier medical institutes of the country for treatment. The Centre needs to issue a white paper on the expenses incurred on the treatment of Kashmir’s super secessionist?
The Governments at the Centre and the Union Territory will have to shun adhocism on Kashmir and work out a foolproof policy to tackle the situation militarily as well as politically. The hide and seek, which is being played with Geelani and others will only strengthen their separatist clout. If the rationale behind hide and seek is to leave some space for engaging Geelani in dialogue then the government better know that this will remain a distant dream. The soft attitude or appeasement has proved counter-productive in the past and will prove the same in the future as well. CONCLUDED