All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Omar Farooq has reacted sharply to recommendations made by a high-level committee favouring autonomy for the state. "The agenda of Hurriyat has never been autonomy, our agenda is freedom, so we didn't want to give any comment on it," he added."We accept only that solution in which Pakistan, India and the people of Kashmir are involved. Any solution between two parties is not acceptable," he said.
In a veiled reference to separatists and hardline Hurriyat Conference leaders, Singh also said the security given to people getting funds from Pakistan and its snooping agency Inter-Services Intelligence should be reviewed.
Jammu and Kashmir police Wednesday evening filed an FIR against hardline separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Masarat Alam Bhat and other separatist leaders 'for provocative activities and hoisting Pakistan flag' in summer capital Srinagar.
Hardline separatist leader Masarat Alam, who was released on Saturday after four and a half years of detention, today said the People's Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party government had done him no favour as his release was part of normal judicial process.
A group of envoys including those from several Europe Union countries and a few Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) member states began a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday to take a first-hand account of the situation in newly-carved union territory, especially after the recently-concluded local body elections.
The meeting is seen as a rebuff to Jamaat leader and chairman of the breakaway Hurriyat Conference faction Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who has been asking Pakistan to stay away from the Hurriyat's moderate leadership.
'When the first Islamic State flags appeared, it was called an aberration.' 'When videos appeared, they were termed exceptions!' 'It is high time we accepted that the global jihad is here.'
It is an ode to his politics that believed in building bridges across social or political divides that he was one of the most liked state leaders among the upper castes even as he drew his support mostly from Dalits, a group which at times shared antagonistic relations with the more prosperous communities due to a number of social and political reasons.
Onkar Singh, a valuable member of the Rediff.com team over the years, breathed his last on January 13. Syed Firdaus Ashraf, who knew him intimately, remembers the ultimate newsman.
Sajjad is the younger son of Hurriyat leader Abdul Gani Lone who was assassinated on May 21, 2002, by militants
The sudden arrest and immediate release of Kashmiri separatist leaders who are to meet Pakistan National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz introduced an intriguing element into the scheduled talks he will have with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on terror on next week.
Geelani had called for a march on Friday to Tral town in South Kashmir where two youths were killed in an anti-militancy operation on Monday.
Separatists dismiss breakthrough in dialogue between the neighbours in Russia, says talks shouldn't be for time pass
Sir Michael lauded the Centre's commitment to enter into a 'genuine dialogue process' with all parties in J&K.
Normal life was disrupted in Kashmir Valley on Friday due to a strike called by hardline Hurriyat Conference to protest the encounter killing of seven men by the Army in Kupwara district.
The suspension of mobile communication for the past 12 days in Kashmir amid strict curfew has put citizens in a desperate situation, says Athar Parvaiz.
'Abrogation of Article 370 is not legal because it is the legal basis of Kashmir's accession to India.'
Speaking to rediff.com from his residence in Srinagar, Farooq said that the issue would be debated on next Friday during the Hurriyat meeting in the Valley headquarters to take a view on the developments that have taken place since Sunday afternoon.
Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and dozens of Shia mourners were on Thursday detained as police scuttled separatist plan to mark the fourth day ceremony of slain trucker Zahid Bhat and stage a Muharram procession in violation of prohibitory orders.
In a communication to the Jamaat-e-Islami leader, OIC functionary Abdul Ahad-al-Aziz addressed Geelani as the chairman of the Hurriyat Conference, sources close to Geelani told PTI.
The Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday evening released chairman of the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik and chairman of moderate faction of Hurriyat Mirwaiz Umer Farooq.They were arrested ahead of their march to Lal Chowk last month. Geelani was taken to a hospital in Srinagar on Monday evening, after he complained of sickness in police custody.
The 45-year-old separatist leader has been booked under the harsh law for waving Pakistani flag and chanting anti-India slogans at a rally in Sringar.
In a break from past, there was no function at the martyrs' graveyard in Srinagar after the government dropped July 13 from the list of gazetted holidays last year, officials said.
All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, who was scheduled to visit the United States next week, might not be able to do so as his travel documents are not in order. "My passport has expired and I am awaiting the renewal of the travel documents so that I can travel abroad," Mirwaiz told rediff.com from his residence in Srinagar on Thursday night."I am confident that some positive developments would take place during their meeting," he said.
Omar Abdullah's rule has been the worst of all, he has proved to be Nero of Kashmir, says Kashmir separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in this exclusive interview.
Curfew-like restrictions have been imposed and separatist leaders have been detained.
Disapproving of Pakistan Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Advisor's meeting with Hurriyat leaders, India on Tuesday said for meaningful dialogue for sustainable peace it is necessary that its "sentiments and sensitivities" are respected and termed the recent ceasefire violations by Pakistani army along LoC as "counterproductive".
"God forbid if they (militants) would have done something. It would not have been possible to have smooth conduct of the elections," Sayeed said.
'On the Kashmir and Pakistan question, it is startling that Vajpayee and Advani did more than anybody in Indian history.'
Authorities in Srinagar have placed breakaway Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani under house arrest, apprehending trouble in view of his scheduled visit to north Kashmir's Kupwara district, where a teacher was shot dead by soldiers on Friday.
The court also castigated the lawyer, who had moved the PIL, for calling Hurriyat Conference leaders "separatists" saying it was a matter of perception.
Hard-line separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani had asked the non-Kashmiri work force to leave the valley after the rape-and-murder of 14-year-old Tabinda Jan in Langate area of Kupwara district in which 2 labourers were allegedly involved.
"India should understand that it cannot resolve the Kashmir issue by keeping pro-freedom groups away from the dialogue process."
A unanimous statement of the delegation appealed to the people of the state to shun the path of violence and resolve all the issues through dialogue and discussion.
The separatist had applied for a passport to allow him to visit his ailing daughter in Saudi Arabia.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said such efforts have lost credibility as there has hardly been any follow-up after similar visits in the past.
The central government has no plans "as of now" to hold talks with separatist groups of Jammu and Kashmir, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday.
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