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Azadi slogans echo in Kashmir varsity
Hum kya chahten hain? Azadi, azadi (What do we want? Freedom, freedom), shouted the 600-strong group of students. Ashiq Hussain reports.
Hum kya chahten hain? Azadi, azadi (What do we want? Freedom, freedom), shouted the 600-strong group of students.
When hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani visited Srinagar University on Monday, there was no dearth of pro-freedom slogans.
Students were surprised to spot the 81-year-old leader standing outside the Kashmir University’s Sir Syed Memorial Gate on Monday afternoon.
University authorities did not initially allow him to enter the campus. But when hundreds of students shouting slogans tried to enter the gate accompanied by Geelani, they let him in.
Once inside, Geelani led the mid-day prayers in the university mosque.
He later visited the Allama Iqbal Library to donate his newly released book Ruh-e-Deen ka Shinasa Iqbal (Iqbal, the custodian of the spirit of Islam).
The students gathered outside the library listened in rapt attention as the veteran leader stood on the roof of his ambassador car to deliver an impromptu address.
“Freedom is our right and we would achieve our right even if the whole world stands against it,” he said.
“Right to self determination is the only solution to the Kashmir problem,” he emphasised.
“It is a myth that Kashmir is an integral part of India. United Nations has accepted it as a disputed territory in all its resolutions passed on Kashmir.”
After addressing the gathering for 45 minutes, Geelani was detained by the police outside the university gate.
