Mirwaiz greeted with rotten eggs in Kolkata

Now, Mirwaiz heckled at Kolkata meet
Saugar sengupta | Kolkata – Daily Pioneer

In a near-duplication of the recent Chandigarh incident, the residents of Kolkata on Sunday threw out separatist Kashmir leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s concept of “azad Kashmir” and greeted him with a strong protest.

Initially, people assembled outside the Academy of Fine Arts where the Hurriyat leader presented his views and ignored his speech. But they turned hostile when the Mirwaiz contended that Kashmir was a “disputed land” and should hence be allowed to decide on “azadi”.

Members of Bharatiya Yuva Morcha and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad greeted him with rotten eggs, shoe garlands, banners and “go back” slogans when the Kashmiri leader “strongly” recommended that Kashmir was a disputed issue. The securitymen whisked the Mirwaiz away and arrested 22 protesters.

Sources said the Mirwaiz received mild injuries in his legs while being pulled away by his security.

The Mirwaiz was in Kolkata to attend a seminar on “Kashmir — A Way Out”, organised by the Centre for Peace and Progress. The Mirwaiz said a firm “no” when asked by another panelist, General Shankar Roychowdhury, the former Army Chief of India, whether he considered Kashmir an integral part of India. “No, I do not consider Kashmir an integral part of India. I consider it to be disputed territory,” he reiterated, demanding an immediate solution to the problem.

“We do not want economic packages because development or economic packages are not the core issue. The core issue is the strong sentiment of the people of Kashmir…azadi,” the Hurriyat leader underscored amid loud protests from the people.

Dialogue, he said, had to be meaningful and “should realise the sentiments of the people of Kashmir”. The comment invited a heated debate with General Roychowdhury, who reminded that all the movements in Kashmir were the outcome of Pakistan’s policy to destabilise India. The General underscored the fact how Pakistan was trying to avenge the creation of Bangladesh by fomenting trouble in Kashmir.

He wondered as to why only young people, and not Hurriyat leaders, were getting injured in Kashmir. He claimed that the reason behind this was that the Hurriyat was playing in the hands of Pakistan and “pulling the strings from behind”.

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