March 20, 2002	Wednesday	Muharram 5, 1423

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MUZAFFARABAD, March 19: Muttahida Jihad Council (MJC), an alliance of Mujahideen groups fighting Indian rule in occupied Kashmir, on Tuesday rejected the proposed polls in the occupied territory as “drama” and made it clear that the freedom seeking Kashmiris would not participate in them.

“The freedom loving people of Kashmir have no interest in the election drama which New Delhi is planning to stage in the disputed region in October. They have rejected the so-called elections in the past and the fate of the upcoming one will not be different,” MJC chief Syed Salahuddin said here.

According to a handout, the alliance held a meeting in Muzaffarabad where Mr Salahuddin emphatically said there was no question of participating in the polls and added that no one from the ranks of the struggling Kashmiris, whether a leader or an ordinary person, could betray the mission of the martyrs.

He said although some quarters were trying to give impression that the Kashmiris and their leadership was gearing up to enthusiastically take part in the polls, but the fact was that the ground realities were in sharp contradiction to this claim.

He recalled that the people of Kashmir had used all peaceful means from 1947 to 1988 to get an opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination but in vain.

“Instead of granting that right, India used coercive and repressive measures to suppress the Kashmiris which forced them to take up arms and launch an armed struggle for freedom.”

Recounting that so far 80,000 people had laid down their lives in Kashmir, Mr Salahuddin said these sacrifices were not offered to send anyone to or remove from the corridors of power but to get rid of the illegal Indian occupation.

The MJC chief also appealed to the government servants in occupied Kashmir to avoid becoming part of the election machinery.

“The Mujahideen and common Kashmiris are closely watching the anti-movement elements in whatever guise. We know their tactics and warn them to desist from impairing the freedom struggle for their petty personal interests,” he said.