Former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday hailed the statement of MoS for Foreign Affairs Gen (retd) VK Singh in which he likened separatist Hurriyat Conference leaders with any other citizens of India who have every right to meet people of other countries (read Pakistan) within India.
“This is what we have been stating from day one. Centre’s position on this was wrong and calling off talks with Pakistan over Hurriyat leaders meeting Pakistani diplomats was a gross over-reaction,” said Abdullah.
“The Government of India should clarify as to why the previous PDP-BJP state government detained Hurriyat leaders in Srinagar last year in order to prevent them from travelling to New Delhi to meet the visiting Pakistani delegation,” Abdullah said.
“Previously we saw how the central government called off talks with Pakistan over the issue of Hurriyat leaders visiting the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi ahead of an engagement between the two countries. At that time also we called this a gross over-reaction and said this should not be used as a pretext to derail talks between New Delhi and Islamabad,” the former chief minister said.
He said that Kashmir is adversely affected by phases of hostility between New Delhi and Islamabad and that the Valley has seen a worsening of the situation in the last year and a half. “Because of the uncertainty in Indo-Pak dialogue, there has been a sense of political anxiety and apprehension in Kashmir and this has affected the state adversely. There has been an increase in local youth resorting to armed militancy and a stark decrease in tourism inflow,” Omar said.
Meanwhile, the octogenarian separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani on Monday refused to divulge the name of his successor saying the succession issue would be dealt with by his party and grouping after his demise.
The 86-year-old ailing leader held a press conference at his residence-cum-office and underscored “conspiracies” to change the demography of Kashmir.
Geelani heads Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, a group he floated in 2003 after parting ways with his parent organisation Jamaat-e-Islami. He also heads a faction of Hurriyat Conference that nominated him lifetime chairman last year.
“As far as TeH is concerned, they know what to do after my demise,” Geelani said adding, “There is Majlis-e-Shoura (advisory council) in Hurriyat Conference that would decide the successor.”
Geelani accused New Delhi of hatching conspiracies to change the Muslim majority status of Jammu and Kashmir. He said India is not concerned about the people but the land of Kashmir region.