SRINAGAR: Kashmiri separatist Syed Ali Geelani has said "gun could be one of the options for permanent solution of the Kashmir issue besides other political means" while citing examples from the Indian freedom movement.

"When India was fighting against the British rule, on one side (Mahatma) Gandhi propagated peaceful struggle and on the second, there was Bhagat Singh, who used violent means to achieve the freedom. India accepts Bhagat Singh as a martyr," Geelani told local news agency KNS.

"Another leader Subash Chander Bose formed an independent army against the British rule. Gun was also a factor which incremented and supplemented India's freedom movement. So, any nation which is under forcible occupation, suppression and oppression, you cannot put limits on them."

The separatist leader justified stone-pelting, saying it is an option available for the helpless people of Kashmir to express their resentment. "Most often you will see that stone pelting is a reaction to use of brute force by police and others paramilitary forces. It is justified even under religion."