Srinagar, Dec 13: Expressing serious concern over the arrest of lecturer Noor Muhammad Bhat, chairman National Front Nayeem Ahmad Khan on Monday castigated Jammu and Kashmir Teachers Forum and College Lecturers Forum for maintaining what he termed a ‘criminal silence’ over detention of their colleague.
“It is not a crime that if one conscious soul among teaching community raised his voice for what he saw during the five month’s struggle. The criminal silence of Jammu and Kashmir Teachers Forum, College Lecturers Forum and Employees’ unions is deplorable. The government employees have always stood up and raised their voice against the state suppression but when one of their innocent colleague is being made scapegoat and tortured, none among them has protested,” Nayeem said in a statement.
Terming Bhat’s arrest as undemocratic step, he said the state government was trying to maintain its psychological pressure on Kashmiris.
“This is not for the first time that the government has employed such tactics to muzzle the voice of people and put curbs on the freedom of expression of the teachers and other intellectuals in the society. But we have been noticing it for the past 63 years that such tactics had always failed and people continued to give expression to the pent up feeling through different ways.”
Khan on his visit to different villages of Pattan area of Baramulla expressed solidarity with the families of the youth, who died during the recent unrest in the Valley.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 13 Dec 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 13 Dec 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:00:00 IST