"The dialogue process has become so slow that it has started creating doubts among various quarters about the sincerity of the peace process," top Hurriyat leaders told a five-member delegation of the European Union in Srinagar.
Rashid used to be a member of the Democratic Freedom Party, but quit in 2001 following difference with its leader Shabir Shah. He later joined the Muslim League, a constituent of the Hurriyat.
However, the government's response in the event of the Hurriyat pulling out of the talks was not clear.
While Mirwaiz Farooq was assassinated inside his Nageen residence in capital city this day in 1990, Abdul Gani Lone, the founder of Peoples Conference (PC) fell to assassin's bullets the same day in 2002.
This will be the first interaction between Jammu and Kashmir's moderate separatist group and the United Progressive Alliance dispensation as part of the dialogue process.
The Hizbul Mujahideen chief said he could not back their peace moves or any future Kashmir solution unless hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was taken on board, local media reported.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday met Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, who had also met Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi earlier. Pakistani officials said that during the 30-minute meeting, Farooq briefed Zardari about the All Parties Hurriyat Conference's perspective of the ground realities in Kashmir.Earlier, the Pakistan foreign minister met Farooq, ahead of his meeting with his Indian counterpart S M Krishna on Monday.
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jammu and Kashmir, Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was released from house arrest on March 8, 2024.
The moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference on Saturday rubbished as a "figment of imagination" the claims made by United States attorney Neil H Macbride that its chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was controlled by Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence. "The statement made by Macbride about the Mirwaiz is his figment of imagination and laughable," Hurriyat said in a statement.
Pak had realised in 2018 that Hurriyat Conference, the separatist conglomerate created by Inter-Services Intelligence, won't be able to deliver any more
The Hurriyat's meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be its first with the UPA-led government since it came to power in May last year.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has accused Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi of raising questions on sensitive defence matters in Parliament after his marriage to a British citizen. Sarma alleged that Gogoi's wife, Elizabeth Colburn, has links with the Pakistani establishment, including working for an organisation allegedly a front for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Gogoi has rejected the allegations as "baseless" and said the BJP is trying to divert attention from its own failures.
The separatist outfit wants to understand the Northern Ireland peace process and determine if it can be applied to the Kashmir problem.
All opposition members of the parliamentary panel on the Waqf Amendment Bill were suspended for a day on Friday amid continuous protests and accusations against Chairman Jagdambika Pal of steam-rolling through the proceedings.
The two factions of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference on Tuesday reacted cautiously to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's proposal to demilitarise some regions of Kashmir on both sides of the Line of Control and grant them automomy.
The amalgam has deferred its meeting to discuss the Centre's invitation so that its members can watch the Peshawar match.
"We have no objection if they [the Hurriyat leaders] want to travel to Delhi and hold talks with the Indian leadership," he said.
This is the first attempt by the separatists to reach out to the mainstream parties.
A visiting delegation of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference on Sunday met leaders from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. The Hurriyat delegation, led by the group's chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, met the political leadership of PoK in Muzaffarabad.
The Jammu and Kashmir police on Thursday arrested Masarat Alam Bhat, the spokesman of the joint co-ordination committee of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. Bhat had been evading the police since the past fortnight.Reportedly acting on a tip-off, the police arrested Alam from near Lal Chowk today evening.The police had raided several places in the last 15 days, in an attempt to arrest the second rung of separatist leaders, who played a key role in organising the protests.
As per the Simla Agreement, all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan should be treated as bilateral ones, while the Hurriyat has been insisting that it be made a party to talks to resolve the Kashmir problem.
Hurriyat softliners to meet Pandit leaders in Jan
In a surprise move on Wednesday, Hurriyat chairman Moulavi Abbas Ansari quit and handed over charge to the Mirwaiz.
The moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference decided on Sunday, not to meet the interlocutors appointed by the Centre for Jammu and Kashmir, saying such an exercise was aimed at keeping the issue lingering.
The amalgam was on Saturday served a notice to vacate the premises in Malviya Nagar, Hurriyat sources said.
Hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani dropped plans to stage protest marches to army and other security forces camps here on September 21.
Supporting the India-Pakistan talks and peace process, he said dialogue was imperative but there should be the world community's involvement at a certain level to reach a solution acceptable to all the parties concerned.
'We want to ensure that no government in J&K will be formed without our support.'
Former governor of Jammu and Kashmir Girish Chandra Saxena has dealt with Hurriyat leaders for many years. Here he paints Hurriyat's profile exclusively for rediff.com.
The meeting comes ahead of Dr Singh's meeting with Musharraf to be held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Schools, shops, business establishments, private offices and banks remained closed in most pasts of the Valley due to the strike, officials said.
"But you have to be careful because the Indian government will never like a solution where it has to totally compromise on Kashmir," Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said.
However, he said the Centre needed to fulfil its previous commitments.
Rajnath came down heavily on the National Conference-Congress alliance over its poll promise of restoring Article 370 and said it is impossible as long as the BJP is there.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting of APHC leaders in Srinagar, Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq said: "The decision to visit Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir was taken at a meeting of the conglomerate here."
The prime minister has been briefed about the talks held earlier last year during the NDA regime.
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