The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) of Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik on Wednesday hailed the people for “boycotting the elections again”.
“Today people have again rejected and dismissed the elections through a boycott and protest shutdown against it,” the leaders said in a statement.
They said, “With the prior announcement of Mayor for Srinagar City by the state authority, manipulation of election timing to 6am, further military deployments across the Valley, continuous arrest of pro-freedom activists and youth, internet bans, the farce of this discredited and preposterous election being undertaken by the authoritarian state gets more and more exposed with each passing phase.”
“The only purpose behind this highly manipulated and authoritarian exercise is, as always, by fudging facts and figures to sell to the outside world the myth of Indian democracy at work in J&K and people’s participation in it and hence push back the narrative of J&K disputed status and the need for conflict resolution,” they said
“Let New Delhi try all the tricks and artful ploys up its sleeve, the fact of the matter is that J&K was, is and will remain a dispute till it is addressed as per the political sentiments and aspirations of its people in deciding their future,” the statement reads.
“People’s slogan is clear: No to all election, only right of self determination,” the statement said.