Geelani flays Laden’s ‘barbarous’ burial at sea

Srinagar: Flaying Osama Bin Laden’s burial at sea as a “barbarous and evil act,” Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Tuesday once again paid tributes to the slain Al-Qaeda founder for standing up to “oppression and injustice.”

“This cowardly act has no moral or legal justification. Burying the enemy according to his/her religion, and with due respect, is an accepted custom in every civilized society, but it (Osama’s burial at sea) has revealed the extent of moral degradation to which a person or State can stoop under the intoxication of power,” Geelani said in a statement issued.

In an apparent reference to America, Geelani said the “self-proclaimed champions of human rights and democracy have brought shame to the entire humanity through this barbarous and evil act.”

 “This contemptuous treatment of dead bodies is a reminder of Stone Age and a so-called superpower has put question marks over its civilization and moral traditions,” Geelani said.

Geelani further described Osama as a “brave man who didn’t stand a mute spectator to oppression and injustice, even though one could disagree with his methods.”

“When he was young, Osama saw how Muslims across the globe were being subjected to oppression and how Muslims from Palestine to Kashmir had been enslaved. The path Osama chose for himself needs to be understood in this context. He didn’t give up a life of wealth and comfort for the sake of some hobby; he saw Muslim women, children and men drenched in blood from Kashmir to Iraq and reacted to state-sponsored terrorism,” he said.

Geelani said that resistance against foreign occupation was a natural reaction and if any powerful nation like America, Israel, Britain   or India occupied other nations and killed innocent civilians, the reaction would be no different.

“As long as the foreign occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Kashmir continues, resistance would surface in different forms and manifestations, and until the foreign powers recall their forces back from these regions and adopt the policy of live and let live, we cannot realize the dream of making the world a peaceful place,” he said.