Srinagar, July 14: Chairman of Hurriyat Conference (G) Syed Ali Shah Geelani Saturday said that “Pakistan’s surrendering before the United States of America after the attack on World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001 was a blunder committed by then Pakistan leadership.”
Talking to Greater Kashmir, Geelani said: “Pak leadership should have resisted rather than meekly surrendering before the US. It was a big blunder. Had Pakistan leaders shown maturity and resisted the US move, situation in Pakistan would have been different.”
Referring to his recent meeting with Pakistan Foreign Secretary Jaleel Abbas Ansari in New Delhi, Geelani said:
“We told him that turmoil in Pakistan is the result of Pak leadership succumbing to pressure. At present they are unable to control the drone attacks and US soldiers are having a free run from Pakistan to Afghanistan. Had the Pak leadership remained firm at that point of time and had it assured the western countries that such attacks won’t take place in future, lot could have been achieved by now.”
Referring to the internal mess in Pakistan, Geelani said, “Pakistan at present is facing lot of problems. Even if Pak leadership wants to pay any attention towards other issues it cannot do so as it is caught in a quagmire. Crisis in Pakistan hurts us and we feel their pain.”
The Hurriyat (G) Chairman said that he told the visiting Pak Foreign secretary that they (Pak leaders) are not aware about the ground situation in Kashmir and the country in the recent past has failed to highlight the “atrocities” Kashmiris are facing. “Pakistan could have used its consulates and embassies to highlight what people of Kashmir are undergoing and could have asked the international community to build pressure on India,” Geelani said. “We stressed on the need for Pakistan to discuss Kashmir first as it’s the core issue rather than talking about trade and commerce.”
Geelani said that Pak Foreign Secretary assured them that Pakistan would continue to provide moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiris.
Asked if his meeting with the top Pak bureaucrat served any purpose, he said, “Most important thing we have realized is that Kashmiris cannot depend on anyone. We have to stand on our own feet and take the ongoing movement to its logical end. We have to remain sincere towards our cause.”
Geelani said that people have to remain firm on their stand rather than getting carried away by mere rhetoric. “In 2008 people came out on roads demanding Azadi and massive protests shook New Delhi. At the end of the same year people came out in large numbers and participated in elections. They should have stayed away from the process.”
He said the people should realize that they cannot give up the cause for the sake of government jobs and other incentives which government keeps on offering from time to time. “We have to remain steadfast on our resolve,” he said. “We will end up paying a very heavy price for having a mercurial temperament. People need to bear it in mind that more than five lakh people have given their lives for a cause and sacrifices rendered by them have to be upheld.”

Lastupdate on : Sat, 14 Jul 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 14 Jul 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 15 Jul 2012 00:00:00 IST