They have organised an event on Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat.

Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Thursday warned strong reaction in the Valley if action was taken against students who organised >an event on Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and JKLF founder Maqbool Bhat in Jawaharlal Nehru University on Tuesday.

Mr. Geelani described the hue and cry over “the peaceful event” in JNU, New Delhi, as “unnecessary and beyond the understanding of anyone.” “India claims to be the largest democracy in the world. Should it not allow people to raise their voice for their birth rights?” asked 86-year-old Geelani, who heads a faction of the Hurriyat.

The Hurriyat cautioned that “if the university authorities took any action against the Kashmiri students, this will not only negate the democratic claims of this country, but will also have very strong reaction in Jammu and Kashmir.”

“The Indian government will be responsible for all this … It is not the first time that the Kashmiri students have organised such an event in any educational institution, but wherever they are studying, they raise their peaceful voices against the oppression which their nation is facing since a long time,” said Hurriyat spokesman Ayaz Akbar.

The Hurriyat claimed that the students of JNU “neither committed any act of violence nor indulged in any other immoral activity there.”

“They have just raised slogans against the secret hanging of Guru and in favour of freedom of Kashmir. The hue and cry by the university authorities, VHP, RSS and the media is totally unfair and unjustified,” the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, independent lawmaker Engineer Rashid hailed the various student organisations for expressing solidarity with the “suppressed” people of J&K by raising their voice against the “judicial murder” of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat.

Mr. Rashid said there should be no doubt that those who raised voice for Kashmiris at JNU were patriotic Indians.