Geelani slams attack, says Allah won’t forgive killer of innocents
Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Wednesday yet again condemned the attack on Amarnath pilgrims saying “almighty Allah won’t forgive the killers of innocents”, and called for an “impartial probe” into the incident.
The chairman of Tehreek-eHuriyat drew from a Quranic verse to decry the killing of a soul as “akin to killing all humankind” as he expressed grief over the death of the seven killed after terrorists opened fire on a bus carrying 50 pilgrims at Batengoo in Anantnag district on Monday evening.
“We have no animosity with India, nor we nurture any enmity with their faith,” Geelani said, and hailed the Valley’s young people for their exemplary service, the blood donation campaign and support they provided to the Yatris in times of distress.
Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, who also heads the United Jihad Council, a coalition of anti-military groups, accused Indian agencies of targeting “its own people for vested interests.”
Condemning the “barbaric attack”, he said India’s “fanatic elements want to target many by a single shot”.
“The attack was not only aimed to malign the Kashmir’s freedom struggle across the globe but also to target insecure Kashmiri students and traders living in different parts of India,” Salahuddin said.
Kashmiris reacted in unison with traders organising protest marches on Tuesday and the civil society speaking in strongest terms to express their rage calling the attack, “the attack on the Kashmiri ethos and tradition”.
Hoteliers observed a black day on Wednesday while a shutdown was also observed in Pahalgam, one of the two base camps for the annual pilgrimage.
The Jammu and Kashmir police, which said on Wednesday that the bus had deserted the security convoy during its return journey from Srinagar to Jammu, maintained that the security forces, and not the pilgrims, were the target of terrorists.
The police blamed Pakistanbased Lashkar-e-Tayyeba for the attack, which the militant outfit has denied. Its spokesperson Abdullah Ghaznavi called the attack a “highly reprehensible act’’ and accused the Indian agencies for it.