While new PDP-BJP coalition is on a limited scale allowing free movement of separatist leaders in Kashmir, the secessionist camp has begun permutations and combinations. On Thursday, a group of senior functionaries of moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq changed their loyalties for hardline separatist faction led by Syed Ali Geelani.
A spokesman for Geelani said that meesaq-e-hurriyat (charter of freedom) was signed before the formal joining of eight “leaders”. The charter declined to enter into any dialogue process with Government of India until the disputability of Kashmir was accepted.
Mirwaiz’s faction played down the issue saying most of the rebels were actually one-man parties. The separatist camp is divided in umpteen factions. The Hurriyat Conference, which was an amalgam of 23 groups at the beginning in 1993, has split into three factions. Some groups like JKlF, Bar Association and Jamiat Ahli Hadith are not associated with any faction.