ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday summoned Indian Charge d’ Affaires to condemn India’s inhuman handling of veteran Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s body from his family and disallowing his burial to be held in accordance with his will.
In a statement, the Foreign Office said, “The Indian envoy was summoned to the Foreign Office and conveyed Pakistan’s strong demarche on Indian Occupation Forces’ callous and inhuman handling of the mortal remains of the iconic Kashmiri leader and freedom fighter Syed Ali Shah Geelani.”
It was conveyed that the Indian Occupation Forces’ “shameless act of snatching” the body of Syed Ali Shah Geelani from his family, was in “blatant violation” of International Humanitarian Law and all tenets of civil and human rights.
The foreign office noted that authorities in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK) had repeatedly “resorted to indiscriminate use of force against Kashmiris protesting the forces’ inhuman conduct”.
“In view of India’s actions in the past and to keep things from spiralling out of control in the occupied valley, there was a possibility of India stage-managing some mischief in Kashmir to divert attention and attempt to deflect the blame of its own indefensible actions on Pakistan or the Hurriyat leadership”, the FO cautioned.
Pakistan stressed upon the envoy that India must refrain from any missteps that might further jeopardise regional peace. “He was also reminded of Pakistan’s stance that India should lift the “illegal military siege” in occupied Kashmir, stop measures aimed at changing the territory’s demography, withdraw its occupation troops and cease all its human rights violations”, the FO added.
Syed Geelani, who passed away on Wednesday, was buried in a tightly controlled pre-dawn ceremony on Thursday morning as Indian authorities imposed a lockdown across Indian-occupied Kashmir.
He was buried at a cemetery near his home in the main city of Srinagar, a police source told an international news agency. Only a small number of his relatives were present, including two of his sons, the source added.
Geelani had wanted to be buried at the Martyrs Cemetery in Srinagar. However, authorities rejected that request, the police source said. “We basically took control of the arrangements,” the official said.
