People of Kashmir should be given the right to self determination, said Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the president of All Parties Huriyatt Conference on Monday. The hard-line separatist leader of Kashmir was addressing a seminar “Commitment to Protect the Human Rights” in the city, organised by Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee. He said, “Kashmir's struggle for self determination and secession has been fought through sacrifices and these sacrifices will never go in vain.”
He said that democracy is the rule of the majority and the test of a good democracy always depended on how the minority got justice in that democratic rule. “This test is applicable everywhere, whether it is a democracy with Hindu majority, Muslim majority or Christian majority,” he said. Mr Geelani said while a huge chunk of people lived in poverty and farmers resorted to suicides due to financial issues, India was spending hugely on defence. “This is a human rights violation,” he said.
Mr Geelani stated that the Kashmir issue was unresolved as India failed to keep its promises. He noted that even Union home minister P. Chidambaram had said in 2010, “Kashmir is all about broken promises.” Earlier, Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners acting president S.A. Rahman Geela-ni and Jagmohan Singh, nephew of Shaheed Bhagat Singh also spoke.