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.
Life in Kashmir was in Tuesday paralysed in view of a strike called by the hard-line separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani against the conviction of six Kashmiris in the 1996 Lajpat Nagar bomb blast case in New Delhi.
In a related development, protests continued for the second day in north Kashmir's Kangan town, where protesters shutdown markets and blocked the highway leading to the Baltal base camp of the ongoing Amarnath Yatra.
The team of Pakistani journalists called on separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
The separatists left no stone unturned in making their differences obvious
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, has denied news reports that appeared in a leading national paper saying that he did not want travel documents to be issued to rival APHC group chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani when an AHPC delegation visited Pakistan in 2005.
Hardliner Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Tuesday said that fulfilling election promises will be a test for the new government but added that the 'struggle for freedom' in the state will continue.Those who were elected have made promises to the people, Geelani said & added that while people voted for the mainstream politicians on the promises of better civic amenities and jobs, the separatists continue to represent the real sentiment.
A little-known Kashmiri separatist leader is spurring the stone-throwing protests against security forces in the Kashmir Valley with tactics such as YouTube recruitment videos and protest calendars published in the local media.
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 91-year-old was buried at a mosque near his residence according to his wishes, his close aides said.
In a confidential report, the Jammu and Kashmir police has accused moderate Hurriyat Conference leader Shabir Ahmed Shah of having links with Pakistan-based terror group Lashker-e-Tayiba. In the report to the state Home Department, the police have suggested some pro-active measures to curb the anti-national activities of separatist leaders and also slapped the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against pro-Pakistan leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
However, the APC failed to make any headway in his proposed formation of working groups as some political parties opposed the move.
Kashmiri separatist groups have welcomed United States President Barack Obama's statement that Jammu and Kashmir was 'a longstanding dispute between India and Pakistan which the two neighbours must resolve'.
Apprehending law and order problem in Anantnag where a youth was allegedly killed in firing by security forces on August 30, curfew remained in force in the town, official sources said.
An indefinite curfew was imposed in Srinagar and other towns on Thursday evening to scuttle Friday's proposed separatist march to Eidgah grounds in the city.
Life across Kashmir valley was badly affected on Friday by a protest shutdown called by hard-line separatist leader and All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani.The strike had been called to protest against the alleged human rights violations in Kashmir.Although authorities didn't impose any restrictions in the old city, security across Srinagar has been beefed up to maintain law and order.
About half a dozen senior leaders of both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference were on Monday put under house arrest to prevent them from participating in the scheduled demonstrations against the transfer of forest land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board. However, police raided the Hyderpora residence of chairman of the breakaway HC Syed Ali Shah Geelani several times, who had already left for some undisclosed place.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday created ripples as he led a five-member delegation of civil society members to meet separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in a bid to break the three-month impasse in Kashmir triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani.
A shutdown called by hardline separatist Hurriyat Conference to protest against the Jammu and Kashmir government's decision to shift prison inmates from the Valley to outside jails affected normal life in Srinagar on Tuesday.
The 45-year-old separatist leader, arrested last week on charges of waging war against the country and sedition, was booked under Public Safety Act on Thursday and shifted to Kotbhalwal Jail in Jammu.
The Hurriyat faction led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, supported by the Kashmir high court bar association, the Dukhtaran-e-Millat, traders and several other groups, gave the strike call.
Markets, banks, semi-government institutions were closed and transport remained off the roads in Srinagar and other major towns in the state in response to the call given by hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference to protest against booking of its chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani under Public Safety Act (PSA) and continued detention of other separatist leaders.
The Hartal was in protest against the article published in a Denmark daily "Jyllands Posten" against Prophet Mohammad.
Ahead of Indo-Pak foreign ministers meet in New Delhi on Wednesday, Pakistan Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Tuesday met both the Hurriyat Conference factions during which the separatists sought Islamabad's intervention for release of Ghulam Nabi Fai arrested in US for being a front of Inter Services Intelligence.
Curfew was on Saturday lifted from Kashmir Valley, a week after it was imposed following hanging of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru. "Curfew has been lifted from all the ten districts in the Valley," a police spokesman said.
Booker Prize winning author Arundhati Roy recently received a tremendous amount of criticism for her speech at the Azadi -- The Only Way seminar in New Delhi, where she shared the stage with Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani. In a strongly worded statement, Roy clarifies her stance on the issue.
Hinting at continuing protests in Kashmir till the visit of United States President Barack Obama to India in November, Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Sunday accused the Centre of trying to suppress the 'movement' in the Valley ahead of the US President's arrival.
Kashmir Valley has been in grip of violent protests since June 11 when a 17-year-old boy was killed after he was hit by a tear smoke shell during clashes at Rajouri Kadal in interior city.
Police blamed activists of hard line faction of Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Muslim league headed by underground separatist leader Masrat Alam Bhat for carrying out the incidents of arson as part of a pre-planned conspiracy to disrupt Eid celebrations.
Hardline separatist leader Asiya Andrabi was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police on Saturday.Andrabi is a trusted lieutenant of separatist Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. She and fellow separatist leader Masarat Alam have been spearheading the protests in Srinagar.Andrabi, who had been underground for some time, was one of the most wanted leaders in the Valley.Kashmir has witnessed a vicious cycle of protests and civilian deaths in firing by security forces.
Separatist groups in Kashmir on Thursday reacted angrily to the death sentence awarded to two locals, who were held guilty by a Delhi court in the 1996 Lajpat Nagar bomb blast case, in which 13 persons were killed.The moderate and hard-line groups of the separatist conglomerate All Parties Hurriyat Conference, headed by Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani respectively, have called for a protest shutdown on Friday against the death sentence.
The strike was called to protest the arrest and subsequent booking under Public Safety Act of six of Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's close associates in Srinagar last week.
A three-member moderate Hurriyat Conference delegation, led by chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, would leave New Delhi on a five-day visit to Pakistan on Thursday.
"Quiet diplomacy is secret diplomacy where few people will decide things and force a solution on people of Jammu and Kashmir against their aspirations, sacrifices and 62-year struggle," Chairman of hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani said at a function in Srinagar.
Separatists in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday said the Centre's offer of a 'quiet' dialogue is aimed at thrusting a compromise solution on the people of the state.
Rejecting Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's offer of talks, pro-Pakistani hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Wednesday said that the solution to the Kashmir issue lies in tripartite talks, aimed at giving the right of self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Commenting on the statement by Chidambaram that the Centre is ready for talks with all shades of political opinion in the state, the hardline separatist leader said, "There is nothing new."
A majority of the residents chose to stay indoors due to heavy deployment of security forces for the Republic Day and very few vehicles, barring those of security forces and VIPS, were seen on the roads.
The Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said organisations that missed the first roundtable, will be persuaded to attend the May round.
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