Srinagar
Octogenarian Hurriyat Patriarch Syed Ali Geelani Tuesday while reacting to the Army’s decision honoring Indian Army’s Major Nitin Gogoi for using a Kashmiri youth as a shield by tying him to the bonnet of a jeep, said that it is extremely distressing and a shameful act.
“Honoring an officer clearly vindicates our claim that this is state sponsored policy and if not stopped it will prove detrimental for human lives.”
Geelani in a statement issued on Tuesday said, “We are looking for ICJ to intervene like they did in the case of Kul Bhushan Yadav case,” he said and in his appeal sought its cognizance and impressed to take Suo Moto action and punish erring forces officer.
“It is ridiculous to award the said officer for the insensitive human shield incident. It is not an exemplary act,” the ailing leader said, while ridiculing Indian politicians for showering their favors on erring officer and their misinterpretation of gruesome incident.
The 88 year old Geelani said that authorities’ version is not acceptable, and added that it was an act of severe crime against humanity. “His intentions were not sincere, he just tried to harass people in the area and it was a deliberate attempt to drag people to polling booths.”
Lashing out at Indian media, Geelani said that they are biased and not trustworthy. “They assigned hype to playful stories of stone pelting and it has been proved time and again that they telecast fictitious and sensation creating stories to justify such inhuman and brutal acts.”
Since last 27 years we are witness to the fact that these incidents often happen in a sequence and there seems no letup, Geelani said.
“Forces are involved in serious crimes like custodial killings, burying them in unmarked graves and making humans as shield,” said Geelani, “More than one thousand forces camps amid civilian population are a source of nuisance and thus civilian population feels insecure.”
Geelani said that if International Court of justice can intervene in Kul Bhushan case and as such there are sound grounds and valid proof for human shield incident for ICJ to deliver justice.
Syed Ali Geelani while commenting over the intervention of international forums, said that they need to take cognizance and without any discrimination deliver justice to uphold the sanctity and dignity of human values.
