SRINAGAR: Chairman Hurriyat Conference (G) Syed Ali Geelani Sunday said Hurriyat leaders were never against dialogue and if New Delhi really means business this time it must first accept Kashmir as a dispute and make resistance camp’s 2010 five-point proposal basis for fresh talks.
The top resistance leader said in a statement entering into a dialogue without New Delhi accepting the basic reality would prove futile like numerous times in the past.
The statement comes a day after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said Delhi was ready to hold talks with Hurriyat and Pakistan “if they wanted a dialogue.” Addressing a seminar on Nazool-e-Quran at his Hyderpora residence here, the ailing leader said he came across Singh’s statement about dialogue in newspapers.
“If New Delhi really means business, it must accept Kashmir as a dispute. Unless there is some seriousness in talks there is no fun,” Geelani told a select audience at his Hyderpora residence during the seminar.
He said resistance camp’s five-point proposal framed after 2010 summer agitation can become a basis for a meaningful dialogue. The five points include demands to accept Kashmir as a dispute, withdrawal of armed forces from populated areas, release all political prisoners and revoking “black laws” including AFSPA and PSA.
The octogenarian leader said at least 150 rounds of talks have been held in the past, but all proved futile for lack of accepting the basic reality of the Kashmir dispute.
Clamour for a tripartite dialogue, talks between New Delhi, Hurriyat leaders and Islamabad is again gaining traction since the May 15 announcement of a temporary ceasefire for the month of Ramadan.
Eleven days of the fasting month have passed and so far the ceasefire has been a success. While forces have stopped anti-militancy operations in Kashmir, militants too have not carried out any major strike.
Geelani also asked the youth of Kashmir to unite and to avoid sectarian and ideological rifts.
“Best way to follow the holy Quran is to avoid unnecessary confrontations based on sects and ideologies. Success lies in unity and we must stay united till the final goal is achieved,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, chairman Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Mohammad Yasin Malik accused New Delhi of resorting to extreme repression to force resistance leadership and the people of Kashmir into a submission.
“The situation turned ugly when BurhanWani was killed in July 2016. All of us (resistance leaders) were kidnapped and lodged in solitary confinement. Calendars were issued and followed,” Malik said.
He said today the situation has turned uglier as even offering condolences and participating in the funerals invited government’s wrath.
“Today, we see many people who have even completed 25 years, 20 years and 19 years in prison, continue to languish in various jails. People like Muhammad QasimFakthoo, Tariq Dar, Feroz Ahmed, Ayoub Dar, Showkat Ahmed and many others, were shifted outside Kashmir against the apex court directions,” Malik said.
“The height of repression is that people like MasratAlam, who was slapped with 35th PSA, continues to remain under custody. No one is asking the State about the logic behind Masrat’s continuous confinement.”
Malik said government’s attempts to instill fear in the resistance leadership and the people of Kashmir would fail again.
“Indian people themselves fought for 150 years against the Britishers. Even United States, that’s a supreme power of the world, struggled for over 100 years,” Malik said.
“Had military might been a response or a solution for genuine struggles of nations, no nation would have achieved freedom.”
The former militant commander said the present unity among the pro-freedom leaders, in the form of Joint Resistance Leadership comprising Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and himself would continue till the “final goal” was reached.