Srinagar, May 31: Ruling out any dialogue with New Delhi, Hurriyat Conference (M) Monday said talks and genocide can’t go together. The statement comes in the wake of killing of three civilians of Nadihal, Rafiabad by troopers in a fake encounter at Machil.
Addressing a hurriedly convened press conference here, Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq accused New Delhi of “engineering genocide of Kashmiris and doing business on blood”.
Saying that India has adopted a military approach to resolve the Kashmir issue, Mirwaiz rejected the latest talks offer by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh and said that dialogue and genocide can’t go together. He also rejected the official probe into Machil fake encounter as eyewash and demanded thorough investigation into the innocent killings by an international panel.
ON DIALOGUE
 “How can we talk when our youth are being killed?” Mirwaiz said while rejecting the PM’s dialogue offer. “Talks and killings can’t go together,” he said.
 Mirwaiz vehemently rejected the reports that he was engaged in backdoor negotiations. “I won’t do sell-out of the blood of martyrs. I reiterate that I won’t talk unless there is complete demilitarisation of the Valley and an end to the rights abuses,” he said.  Urging Pakistan to keep “state terrorism” on dialogue agenda with India, Mirwaiz said the two countries should adopt a realistic approach.
 “It is the moral responsibility of Pakistan to raise the human rights abuses by troopers in Kashmir with India. There is no fun talking about trade and terrorism when people are being slaughtered like animals in the Valley,” he said.
‘SURPRISE PROTESTS’
 Mirwaiz said the Government had snatched the right of people to register peaceful protests against the human rights abuses. He said whenever a program was given for protests, it is thwarted by undeclared curfews, restrictions, use of force and putting the pro-freedom leadership under house arrest.
 “Enough is enough. We can’t tolerate the killings anymore. We have decided to go for surprise protests. We will stage sit-ins and peaceful demonstrations in Mohallas, villages and districts without any prior announcements. It is high time for people and pro-freedom parties to rise above their respective ideologies and rise against the injustice and inhuman treatment,” he said.
 He made a fervent appeal to students and government employees to stage peaceful protests at their institutions and offices to generate pressure on the Government. He also urged the civil society of India to lend support to the cause of Kashmiris.
 Mirwaiz said the conglomerate’s activists in Brussels, UK and Gulf Countries have been directed to stage peaceful demonstrations there.
 “We will submit reports and memorandums on human rights violations in the Valley to embassies of various countries in New Delhi and international human rights groups. We hope they will take cognizance of our concerns and impress upon New Delhi to stop the genocide in Kashmir,” he said.
‘FAKE ENCOUNTERS A BUSINESS’
 “Brutal killing of three innocent youth in a fake encounter at Machil on April 30 is a glaring instance of the genocide of Kashmiris executed as part of a diabolic strategy. We believe that this is not an isolated incident or an accident but it is one of the thousands of cases in which Kashmiri youth were eliminated for rewards and promotions,” visibly shaken Mirwaiz said before leaving for Nadihal to express solidarity with the victims’ families.
 “During the Sikh rule, Kashmir was sold for Rs 75 lakh and now Indian troops, at the behest of New Delhi, are engineering genocide of Kashmiris and doing business on their blood. Ironically, Kashmiri has been turned into a killing field with its unsuspecting youth becoming the cannon fodder,” Mirwaiz said.
 “These incidents expose India’s façade of being a democratic country. I will not desist to call it a sham democracy,” he said.
 Mirwaiz expressed concern over the surge in incidents involving mysterious disappearance of youth in the summer capital Srinagar and fishing out of the bodies of some of them from rivers and streams.
 “In view of the fake encounter killings, we should not take these deaths as mere suicides. There seems to be a dangerous pattern in these incidents and we can’t rule out a conspiracy angle and hand of security agencies behind such mysterious deaths,” he said.
REJECTS GOVT PROBES
 Mirwaiz rejected the Government probes into the fake encounter killings saying they end up serving the “national interest.” “We have seen the fate of official probes in the past. These are just held to befool the international community. India’s so-called premiere investigating agency CBI stands exposed after it bailed out the perpetrators involved in the Shopian double rape and murder,” he said.
 He said the police too had failed to protect the rights of the people. “Even police does not register FIR against its own personnel accused of rights abuses not to talk of taking action against the troopers. Police system has completely failed in Kashmir,” he alleged.
 He demanded an independent and international probe to unearth the fake encounter racket. “We have apprehensions that the missing persons in the Valley have also been killed in a fake encounters. There are countless unnamed graves across the Valley. This is a very serious issue and demands a systematic and transparent probe. We hope that an international committee will volunteer to probe the matter and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
‘ZERO TOLERANCE SHAM’
 Mirwaiz said the recent killings belie the promise of zero-tolerance on human rights violations by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
 “Zero tolerance promise has turned out to be a hoax rather a sheer zero. The promise is yet to be fulfilled while the troopers are butchering innocent Kashmiris. There is no accountability for the troopers in Kashmir. If anything in evident here it is the Jungle Raaj,” he said.
 Lashing out at the Chief Minister, Mirwaiz said, “He (CM) has no power to tame the troopers. The puppet regime here is just implementing the anti-Kashmir policies of New Delhi. The state government has failed to provide sense of security to the people,” he said.
 Mirwaiz lashed out at the national and secular political parties for what he said adopting criminal silence over the killings. “Not a single party including the Left who claim to champions of democracy, spoke even a word about the murders in Kashmir,” he said.
VISITS NADIHAL
 Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Monday visited Nadihal Rafiabad to express condolences with the bereaved families of three youth killed in the fake encounter.
 As Mirwaiz reached Nadihal, hundreds of people came out of their homes, raising pro-freedom slogans and took him in a procession.
 Addressing mourners, Mirwaiz said encounters are staged to justify military presence and continuation of draconian laws in state.
 “We wouldn’t leave you alone. Those feeling threatened by Ikhawanis would be welcomed to stay in Hurriyat office,” he said.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 31 May 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 31 May 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 1 Jun 2010 00:00:00 IST