Army-run schools in Valley indoctrinating kids, alleges separatist leader Geelani; Govt slams remark

New Delhi: A day after separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani accused the army-run schools in the Valley of indoctrinating children, the government on Saturday reacted strongly to the comments and said that it's nothing but doublespeak.

"These people (separatists) on one hand provide quality and wholesome education to their children, but on the other hand deny basic education to the common people of the state," TOI quoted Deputy CM Nirmal Singh as saying.

Union minister Jitender Singh said, "The Kashmiri youth should ask them (separatists), if jihad is so important then why doesn't he (Geelani) tell his own children to leave studies."

Echoing a similar view, Congress leader Manish Tewari said, "The Army had played a sterling role when Srinagar was flooded, when large parts of Kashmir got flooded. We didn't hear from the Hurriyat or from Geelani that the Army shouldn't have been involved in the rescue efforts in that point in time.”

“So, the difficulty is that when it suits them, they take the help of the Army, and it becomes the good samaritan, and when it comes to politics, then of course Army is their favourite whipping boy," ANI quoted Tewari as saying.

Geelani had alleged on Friday that schools run by security forces are "making them (students) indifferent towards their religion and specific culture".

"For petty material gains, we are losing our next generation. Parents should be careful about the future (of their wards)," he said in a statement in Srinagar.

"We need to see what education these institutions are imparting to our children," he reportedly said.

"It is quite contradictory and has no moral justification. Occupiers can never prove choicest custodians or provide better education as they are inflicting brutalities on our nation," Geelani was quoted as saying.

"These schools are following syllabus influenced by the same fanatical dogma," he alleged.

"Parents are requested to disassociate from these fanatical institutions and take proper decision about their children," Geelani said.