Srinagar
The Kashmiris from across the
Line of Control and the
world over including the Tehreek-e-Hurriyet Jammu and Kashmir Chairman Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai and the All Parties Hurriyat Conference have strongly condemned an attack on a Sikh temple in the United Kingdom and have expressed solidarity with the Sikh community.
Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai in a statement issued in Srinagar while condemning the incident that took place at Guru Arjun Dev Ji Gurdwara in Derby, UK, said that the incident was also painful because the Sikh nation had always championed the just cause of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference spokesman in a statement issued in Srinagar condemned the attack on Guru Arjun Dev Singh Gurdwara in London, UK, by some rioters saying that the British government should take serious note of this tragic incident. The APHC demanded a stern action against such elements so that no rioter could commit such a heinous act in the future.
Expressing solidarity and sympathy with the Sikh community, the spokesman said the way the Sikh people helped their Muslim brothers during during attacks on unarmed Muslims by Hindu extremists is laudable. He mentioned that the Sikh brothers and sisters had always supported the Kashmiris’ movement for freedom. He pointed out that frustrated by Sikh-Muslim unity, Indian secret agencies were now trying to create discord between Muslims and the Sikh community. He, however, hoped that they would not succeed succeed in their evil designs. The spokesman said that after the August 5 lockdown, when the people from occupied Kashmir were being assaulted by Hindu extremists in all parts of India, it were the Sikh community members who opened the doors of their gurdwaras for the oppressed Kashmiri Muslims and provided them with food and shelter. The APHC spokesman expressed the hope that the Muslim and Sikh communities would thwart the nefarious design of their common enemy by establishing loving relations with each other at all junctures of the history.
Jammu and kashmir Youth Social Forum Chairman, Umar Adil Dar in a statement condemned the vandalism at Guru Arjan Dev Gurdwara in Derby describing it as an individual act. He demanded thorough investigation of the inhuman act. He lauded the support of the Sikh community to the Kashmir cause.
Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference Chairman, Shabbir Ahmed Dar in a statement also expressed deep shock and anguish over the cowardly and criminal act against the gurdwara saying the purpose of the act was to create disharmony between Muslims and Sikh brothers.
Kashmir Tehreek khawateen Chairperson Zamurda Habib in a statement issued in Srinagar while denouncing the attack stressed the need for Sikh-Muslim unity to thwart the evil designs of the common enemy. Hurriyat leader Firdous Ahmad Shah also denounced the sacrilegious act. Jammu and Kashmir Employees Movement Chairman, Muhammad Shafi Lone said that the attack was a deliberate attempt to create a rift between Muslim and Sikh community.
Democratic Political Movement Chairman, Khawaja Firdous termed the act as an artifact of Indian intelligence agencies to take revenge from the Sikh community for supporting the Kashmir cause. He said the act as the handiwork of Indian intelligence agencies, aimed at taking revenge from the Sikh community for supporting the Kashmir cause.
Muslim Khawateen Chairperson Yasmeen Raja in her statement while mentioning the massacre of Chattisingora wherein 35 Sikhs were butchered by Indian secret agencies said the attack on the gurdwara was also carried out by the same agencies.
The Jammu Kashmir People’s Movement (JKPM) Chairman, Mir Shahid Saleem in a statement in Jammu said the way Sikh community has come forward in support of the Kashmiri people and other oppressed communities of the world is not being tolerated by the Indian agencies and they are hell-bent on creating wedge between Sikhs and Kashmiri Muslims. However he said these kinds of tactics are not going to deter the sikh community from standing with the oppressed people of Kashmir. He also demanded strict action against the perpetrators of the crime and unmasking real culprits behind the act.
Jammu and Kashmir National Front (JKNF) and Mahaz-e-Azadi on Wednesday while reacting to this dastardly incident in their statements in Srinagar said that the planned attack on the temple was a handiwork of the Indian secret agencies as the successive governments of India had always tried to portray the ongoing Kashmir’s struggle as a conflict between the Muslim and non-Muslim communities to give it a communal colour.
Tehreek-e-Wahdat-e-Islami, in a statement issued in Srinagar, while strongly condemning the attack on Arjan Dev Gurdwara in Derby, UK causing huge damage to the Sikh worship place, said such despicable attacks have no justification whatsoever and must be rejected categorically. It pointed out that the attack might be a part of larger conspiracy to harm Sikh-Muslim bonding the world over as the two communities have come together on many issues relating to them including the issue of Kashmir and the Khalistan movement. Expressing solidarity with the Sikh community, TWI said that those who are behind this attack must be brought to book and deserve strict punishment.
The Convener of Tehree-e-Hurriyat AJK chapter, Ghulam Muhammad Safi in a statement in Islamabad also condemned the attack on the gurdwara in the UK.
The Convener of AJK chapter of Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat forum, Syed Faiz Naqshbandi, in a statement said, the Hurriyat forum condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. He expressed solidarity with Sikh community.
Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League leaders Syed Aijaz Rehmani and Nisar Ahmad said that any such act against any religious center or place is illegal, inhuman and uncivilized and needs to be condemned forcefully.
They hailed the humanitarian work of Sikh Gurudwara Langars providing food amid the COVID-19 crisis to their Kashmiri brethren stranded in India.
Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party on Wednesday termed the attack as a handiwork of Indian secret agencies.