Srinagar, May 22 (INP): In occupied Kashmir, the Joint Resistance Leadership comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik has said that the puppet authorities have no courage to face the Hurriyat leadership on political turf. According to Kashmir Media Service, Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik who were caged on Monday by the authorities to prevent them from leading a march towards Eidgah in Srinagar said that imposing curbs to prevent the rally and barring the leadership from reaching the venue signifies defeat by the puppet regime. They said that caging the Hurriyat leadership and imposing tough curbs in downtown Srinagar on the occasion of the martyrdom anniversaries of prominent martyred leaders, Mirwaiz Molvi Muhammad Farooq and Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone and the martyrs of Hawal massacre deserved strong condemnation. They said, the complete shutdown observed by the people across the Valley on Monday amplifies their commitment to the mission of the martyrs and the ongoing movement and their pledge that no matter how tough the repression goes, people will continue to strive for their rights till the final goal is achieved. “We condemn in strongest words the stringent curbs imposed in entire downtown by the authorities to foil the Eidgah rally where leaders and people would pay tributes to the martyrs and reaffirm their pledge to carry forward the ongoing freedom movement,” they said. “The authorities are afraid of people’s power and commitment towards the freedom struggle and that makes them take these totalitarian measures. The ruling regime doesn’t have the courage to face us on political turf,” they added. The resistance leaders maintained that no matter how far India and its local stooges go in unleashing repression upon people, the people have shown that they will continue to follow the cause for which the martyrs sacrificed their life. People showed again they will at all cost resist New Delhi’s military might with full strength, they added. The leaders expressed regret and anguish over the ruling regime’s measure of barring congregational fateha khawani at the Martyrs’ Graveyard in Eidgah for the past eight years by the use of extreme force and imposing strict curbs in most areas of downtown. They also denounced the so-called rulers for keeping the entire downtown under curfew for the past three days even during the holy month of Ramadan. INP/AK