Central  Committee of CPI(ML)-New Democracy strongly condemns the arrest of All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leader and its former Chairman Mr. Syed Ali Geelani under POTA. The arrest proved that Govt. of India under its new Kashmir policy has decided to do away with even the semblance of democratic rights in J&K in order to crush the struggle of the Kashmiri people.

The charges framed against Mr. Geelani and the recoveries shown from his residence falsify the claims of the Govt. about the arrest. It is clear that Mr. Geelani has been arrested and sent to Ranchi Central Jail to silence his voice which is not to the liking of powers that be at the Centre and in Srinagar.

Rather than acknowledging the futility of repression in solving the problem of Jammu & Kashmir, the Govt. of India under the new policy unveiled by the Home Minister Shri Advani some time back, has intensified repression against the constituents of APHC thus denying the people of Kashmir opposing India Govt.'s policies their voice. The Govt. of India which is bowing to the US pressures, is not willing to have any meaningful dialogue with the representatives of the people of J&K.

Arrest of Mr. Geelani coming after assassination of Mr. Lone has further complicated the already complex  situation in the Kashmir.

CPI(ML)-New Democracy demands that Mr. Geelani should be released immediately and the Govt. should cease repression on the people of J&K.  We also demand that Govt. of India should try to solve the problem of J&K respecting the democratic aspirations of the people of the region and to that end must start meaningful dialogue with the representatives of the people of J&K.