Attaching buildings won't detach people from their sentiment: Hurriyat on NIA action

NIA seals separatist amalgam’s Srinagar office on court directions

A day after a special court in Delhi ordered attachment of Hurriyat Conference office in posh Rajbagh area of Srinagar under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), separatist amalgam Sunday claimed that it will not detach people from their sentiment.

On Sunday morning a team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sealed the office of moderate Hurriyat faction and pasted a notice on the gates of the multi-storey building, where from strike calls, protest calendars and Delhi-Srinagar dialogue were debated.

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Additional Sessions Judge Shailender Malik of the Patiala House Court on Saturday observed that the office of the separatist amalgam led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has been attached under section 33(1) of UAPA on NIA’s plea.

The NIA sleuths put a notice to inform all members of the public that the building, which is owned jointly by Nayeem Ahmed Khan, who is presently facing a trial in the NIA Court, Delhi, has been attached by the Court order of January 27, 2023.

While reacting over sealing of its office, a spokesperson of the Hurriyat said, “Rub of repeated storming on Hurriyat office and its widespread media telecast through state controlled media, is not lost on the people of Jammu and Kashmir. (Under) a lopsided court order, the office has been ‘attached’ and in subsequent swift action notices have been put up on its walls, signaling some kind of victory take over.”

“Those in control of J&K should know that the sentiment and desire to see the resolution of the Kashmir conflict and to live in peace, is embedded in the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Attaching buildings of stone and mortar will not detach people from their sentiment. They will continue to seek peaceful resolution,” he claimed.

The Hurriyat said the attaching its office may seem good optics to those “who want to send another shrill message to the people of Kashmir and get votes outside by it, but people of Jammu & Kashmir know better.”