‘Targeting Mirwaiz akin to targeting religious sentiments of Kashmiri Muslims’
Srinagar: Condemning the repeated summons issued to Mirwaiz Umar Farooq by NIA, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday said New Delhi is actually doing everything to collectively hurt the religious sentiments of Kashmiri Muslims and giving them a message that sanctity of their faith matters least in today’s India.
In a statement issued here, senior PDP leader and MLC Mohammad Khurshid Alam said that by repeatedly summoning Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to New Delhi, the government of India is actually playing with fire and such measures will further sow the seeds of discord and create lasting negativity between Kashmir and mainland India.
Alam said that those at the helm in New Delhi have perhaps forgotten the fact that Mirwaiz is in itself an institution and head of the seat of learning besides being part of the culture of Kashmir.
He said that every person in Kashmir is indebted to family of Mirwaiz for his forefathers have been imparting moral and religious values to the people for centuries. “Mirwaiz Molvi Rasool Shah sahib is also called as Sir Syed of Kashmir as he established Islamia High School at a time when illiteracy and ignorance among the people of Kashmir was taking toll. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s another ancestor Molvi Mohammad Yousuf Shah has the distinction of translating and interpretation of Quran into Kashmiri language,” said Alam
“Those targeting Mirwaiz should see the fate of National Conference that was doomed to the core only after harassing, intimidating and unnecessarily targeting this pious family of Kashmir. One can easily find how much notional conference is loathed and ridiculed even today for all the terror it unleashed upon the family of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in the past,” said Alam.
The PDP leader said that if New Delhi continues to hound Mirwaiz, the repercussions will be dreadful to imagine and it will increase alienation and frustration among the people of Kashmir. “By targeting Mirwaiz you are actually targeting the religious sentiments of the people of Kashmir especially youth. When the state is already witnessing an unprecedented radicalisation among the youths, New Delhi by such measures isn’t in any way helping the situation,” Alam added.
