March to UN office today, Omar threatens to resign from LS

A worried Government dispatched Srinagar Deputy Commissioner Kachu Asfandyar Khan and Senior Superintendent of Police Syed Ahfad-ul-Mujtaba to visit top Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to convince them to cancel the public march to the UN office tomorrow and rather go for a token march.

The separatists did not agree, though they did change the course. Now the procession will gather at the neighbouring Tourist Reception Centre grounds where the leadership will address the people. There is, however, no word on whether there will be a subsequent march to the UN office or not.

The Government is in a fix about how to handle this separatist groundswell across Kashmir. “It is a Catch-22 situation: whether to allow a mammoth procession in Srinagar city or try to halt it,” a senior police officer told The Indian Express. “A free run for the protestors to converge at the UN office on a narrow road strip in Srinagar city, adjoining the sensitive Gupkar road which houses top mainstream politicians, offices of security agencies and top police and civil administration officers, has a serious security dimension,” he said. “But if we halt the procession, it will mean more killings and then another cycle of protests.”

The massive public outrage has also forced mainstream political parties to revise their stands. National Conference leader and MP Omar Abdullah said today that he “will resign if this current situation continues and the unjustified use of force on unarmed protestors continues”.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), meanwhile, passed a resolution expressing “distress over the excessive use of force against the protestors” and said “the killing of unarmed civilians and ransacking of properties could not be justified”.

The party pointed out that almost similar circumstances had led to eruption of the turmoil in 1990 and emphasised that the public outrage over so many killings and the brutal use of force was justified. “The Government of India must, without any further delay, reach out and engage all sections of the society, including the leaders of the Hurriyat Conference, in a productive dialogue to resolve the issues,” the resolution, which was adopted by top party leadership including former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, said.

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