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NATO Attack on Pak Beginning of Larger Western Attack: Kashmiri Leader

By Fayaz Wani

Srinagar, Nov 29: Strongly condemning the recent NATO attack on Pakistani soldiers, senior separatist Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Geelani said the NATO attack was the beginning of a larger Western attack on Pakistan.

"Our hearts beat with the hearts of our Pakistani brothers and we share their happiness and sorrow," Geelani said and expressed his condolences with Pakistan over the killing of its 24 soldiers in the NATO attack.

"The NATO attack could just be the beginning of a larger plan of Western powers to break Pakistan. The leadership of Pakistan will have to take an important decision once again at this critical juncture in history. If they follow the footsteps of former leaders and exhibit cowardliness then God help Pakistan. The present Pakistani political and military leadership must show some nerve and make it clear on Western powers that Pakistan is not like Afghanistan, Iraq or Libya," the ailing separatist leader said.

He said despite its shortcomings, Pakistan remains the centre of hope for the Muslims across the globe.

"There is no dearth of people in Pakistan, who feel the pain of their Muslim brothers in other parts of the world and express solidarity with them time and again. It is for this quality that Pakistan has been an eyesore for anti-Muslim forces. This animosity has only increased after Pakistan became a nuclear power," Geelani said.

The ailing separatist leader said 9/11 put Pakistan at crossroads. "The leaders of Pakistan should have decided at that time whether they were ready to risk everything to protect the ideological and geographical boundaries of Pakistan or surrender before the dominant forces. They should have decided whether safeguarding the interests of Muslim Ummah was more important than taking narrow-minded decisions," he said.

"The reality is that the leaders of that time displayed vision of short-sightedness and plunged Pakistan's existence into its most dangerous phase by surrendering before Western powers. Whatever was happening in Pakistan today was a result of the same shortsighted approach," he said.

Fayaz Wani reports on life in Srinagar, Kashmir.