Srinagar, June 28: High Court Bar Association Kashmir has asked Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to resign and apologise publicly “for the crimes and atrocities perpetrated by his regime on the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”
 “An extra-ordinary meeting of the Bar convened here today under the chairmanship of president Mian Abdul Qayoom condemned the unabated killing of the Kashmiri youth,” Bar general secretary advocate GN Shaheen said in a statement.
 “It is our collective belief that the situation as it obtains in Jammu and Kashmir calls for everybody to act now or never,” the statement said.
 Condemning today’s wanton firing on peaceful protestors at Sopur, Varmul and various places in and around Srinagar city, the meeting, according to the statement termed the fresh wave of innocent killings as a continuous phenomenon of genocide being perpetuated in Jammu and Kashmir.
 Expressing resentment over the statements of some Army generals on AFSPA, the Bar said that such irresponsible utterances reflect the Government of India’s mindset on Kashmir.
 The meeting also expressed surprise over the statement of Law Minister Ali Muhammad Sagar wherein he admitted that the state government is helpless before the armed forces and other security agencies.
 “The Bar Association is of the firm view that the governments in Jammu and Kashmir are only surrogate agencies and repressive regimes enforced by the Government of India on the people here,” the statement said adding that if the present Government has come to the conclusion that it is helpless before the security forces, it must resign and tender apology to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
 The meeting observed that the people of Jammu and Kashmir especially the lawyers fraternity is not scared of the state repression and cannot be cowed down by any means of intimidation of arrests. “Arrest of lawyers is not a new thing as scores of lawyers have already been arrested and incarcerated under the draconian laws from time to time and about a dozen of them including Shaheed Jaleel Andrabi, Shahid Abdul Qadir Sailani, Shaheed Sheikh Mohammad Hussain, Shaheed Muhammad Abdullah Rather, Shaheed Abdul Gani Bhat and others have laid their precious lives in the freedom struggle for a precious cause,” the statement said.
 It was decided in the meeting that the Bar Association shall hold a joint meeting with all the District and Muffasil Office Bearers of respective Bar Associations on June 30 in Sadder Court Complex Srinagar to chalk out the future course of action.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 28 Jun 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:00:00 IST