Faced with life threatening cancer, Occupied Jammu and Kashmir leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has said Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf: "Should leave us alone if he cannot support us".
In an interview before leaving abroad for medical treatment, Geelani, 77, also said that even the slightest shift from UN resolutions, calling for a plebiscite to decide occupied Jammu and Kashmir's future, would tantamount to "surrender". "Agreeing to all formulae, which other than the plebiscite under UN supervision is a surrender and that is what Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and his other supporters have done," said senior Hurriyat leader Geelani, referring to leaders of the moderate faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
"Kashmiris would never forget that the solution to Kashmir issue lies only with the UN even though Pakistan government also shifted its stance (of supporting UN resolutions)," Geelani told IANS, seated on a bed at a modest south Delhi residence of a sympathiser.
"I have already asked Pakistan President Musharraf to leave us alone if he cannot support us," he added. Geelani underscored nothing less than self-determination was acceptable to Kashmiri people. All other "short cuts" like self-governance, autonomy, joint management and soft border would lead to "surrender" before India.
Large sections in Pakistan continue to view Geelani as their staunchest ally in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Geelani is a passionate advocate of the state's accession to Pakistan. He broke away from the Hurriyat Conference in 2003 and formed his own faction, accusing his colleagues of deviating from the group's constitution of fighting for independence. The moderate faction led by Mirwaiz, who has endorsed the India-Pakistan peace process while Geelani's group dismissed it as a farce.
Asked if he would like to see the divided separatist camp reunite, Geelani answered: "I have never been averse to unity. If all the people unite for right to self-determination, I would welcome them in the amalgam." Geelani said the "so-called peace process" had yielded nothing so far. "The ground situation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir continues to be shocking amid human rights violations by Indian security forces," he added.
Commenting on demilitarisation of occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Geelani said that Kashmiris had been fighting for this ever since 1947, when India and Pakistan became independent and began to quarrel over the state's ownership.
"We want occupied Jammu and Kashmir to be demilitarised," he said. "But demilitarisation should be followed by plebiscite to seek people's aspiration." Geelani's health deteriorated last week and doctors in New Delhi advised him to shift abroad for surgery.
Geelani's passport, valid for one year, had been issued after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh intervened. Geelani would soon be leaving to the US. "My health is in a poor shape, and I will be missed (by my supporters)," he said, sounding worried. He has nominated two trusted lieutenants to head his party Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir and his faction of the Hurriyat.
In his absence, Geelani's deputy Ghulam Nabi Sumjhi would head the Hurriyat while Mohammed Ashraf Sehrai, a former Jamat-e-Islami leader, has been nominated acting chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat. Suggesting that occupied Jammu and Kashmir could see new assembly elections soon, Geelani said he had urged his supporters to stay from the electoral process. "I ask Kashmiri people and freedom fighters in particular to maintain unity, not to forget the sacrifices of Kashmiris and take the struggle to its logical end, no matter how difficult it is," he said. "This is my last wish."