Moderate Hurriyat leaders Abdul Gani Bhat and Lone brothers -- Sajjad and Bilal, who have been critical of terrorists recently, stayed away from Pakistan National Day celebrations where People's Democratic Party leader Maulvi Ifthikhar Hussain Ansari was a surprise guest. Both moderate and hard-line factions of the Hurriyat Conference were represented by their chairmen Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani respectively at the Pakistan Day celebrations.
The National Conference president also extended an invitation to the Mirwaiz and Mehbooba for a separate meeting.
However, the APC failed to make any headway in his proposed formation of working groups as some political parties opposed the move.
The Centre on Wednesday proposed to hold talks with the All Parties Hurriyat Conference at the home minister's level later this month or early next month.
Centre's pointsman N N Vohra is visiting Kashmir next week to attend the Indo-European Union round table conference in Srinagar and is likely to meet Hurriyat Conference leaders during his three-day stay.
Peeved over the silence of leaders of separatist groups, their factions in Pakistan and in occupied-Kashmir are making desperate attempts to foment trouble in Jammu and Kashmir by giving calls from across the border for 'bandhs' and strikes to mark the death anniversary of Mirwaiz Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone, officials said.
The Hardline Hurriyat Conference on Tuesday alleged that the statements made by Union Defence Minister A K Antony and a senior army commander in the Kashmir Valley were an indication that the Centre was planning to settle the armed forces permanently in Jammu and Kashmir.
Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was on Wednesday re-elected unanimously for a second term as chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference.
Top Kashmiri separatist leaders on Saturday evening joined the iftar party hosted by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the hard-line separatist leader at his uptown residence.
The hardline Hurriyat Conference on Saturday rejected Centre's eight-point formula to de-escalate the current turmoil in Kashmir terming it as an "eye wash" even as other separatist outfits maintained a studied silence.
Owaisi said, 'Srinagar is a ghost town. Yeh kya kar diya hai (What have they done)? The people are very angry. It moved us to see that people were searching for milk. We were told that since last three months children were not going to school, medicines or proper food have been in short supply. They said they were being tormented.They can't bear the torture of their youth."
India and Pakistan have no right to impose leaders or solutions on Kashmiris who have sacrificed their lives and honour for a sacred cause, he said.
Hurriyat Conference on Friday voiced its dismay at India and Pakistan not making much headway at the talks between their foreign ministers, saying the outcome has left people in the Kashmir valley "disappointed."
Separatist leader Mohammad Yasin Malik on Tuesday pleaded guilty to all the charges, including those under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), before a Delhi court in a case related to alleged terrorism and secessionist activities that disturbed the Kashmir valley in 2017, court sources said.
Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was detained by the police at the Srinagar airport and put under house arrest soon after his arrival from New Delhi. In the national capital, the chairman of the hard-line faction of the Hurriyat Conference was questioned by the Delhi police in connection with a hawala case. "He was detained at the airport and put under house arrest soon after his arrival from Delhi," said the party spokesperson.
In the last three years, the Union Territory administration has invoked 311 (2)(c) of the Constitution to sack more than 50 employees, who were allegedly operating in shadows within the government and drawing a salary from the public exchequer, however, they were helping Pakistani terror outfits, providing logistics to terrorists, propagating terrorists' ideology, raising terror finances and furthering secessionist agenda, officials said.
Authorities imposed restrictions in certain areas of Srinagar on Saturday to scuttle a protest march called by separatists to coincide with Martyr's Day
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 permanent Security Council seat in the UN for India means a major injustice, which has no moral ground. How will such a country (India) be made a permanent member, when it has not honoured the body and rejected its resolutions on Kashmir," Chairman of the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani said.
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.
With educational institutions all set to reopen on Monday in Kashmir Valley, the hard-line faction of the Hurriyat Conference, led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, on Sunday asked parents not to send their wards to schools and colleges. "No right thinking person can deny the importance of education in society, but to think that they (government) are concerned about the future of our children is like a mad man's dream," Geelani said in a statement.
Chiefs of both factions of Hurriyat Conference -- Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq -- were on Saturday placed under house arrest in the national capital as a preventive measure following the hanging of Afzal Guru in the Parliament attack case.
In a bid to break the current impasse, teams of the all-party delegation to Kashmir on Monday separately met Hurriyat leaders and gave them a patient hearing but the separatists insisted on withdrawal of Army and asked the Centre to take bold decisions instead of being in a "denial mode".
The Indian Army on Thursday asked Kashmiris not to pay heed to the call given by hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani to march towards the security forces' camps in the Valley on September 21 to press for demilitarisation of the state.
Pro-Pakistan leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's death has brought to an end a chapter of anti-India and separatist politics in Kashmir.
India boycotted Pak National Day event over invitation to Hurriyat leaders.
Moderate Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq may have had a secret meeting with the head of Pakistan intelligence agency Inter Services Intelligence Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha in Europe, although he denies that.
"There is a need for stage-wise progress in the process and the first step would be to withdraw all army and paramilitary troops from the state," he said.
Sir Michael lauded the Centre's commitment to enter into a 'genuine dialogue process' with all parties in J&K.
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.
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.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday welcomed the likely Centre-Separatist dialogue to be held away from media glare.
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