Differences had cropped up within the hard-line faction after Geelani rejected the invitation to visit Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on June 2 and further hardened his stand.\n
The Moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference Thursday served a show cause notice on three of its senior leaders for their recent utterances and causing ruckus at a recent meeting of the APHC executive.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a key religious and separatist figure in Kashmir, has removed his designation as 'Chairman All Parties Hurriyat Conference' from his X profile, signaling a potential shift in the region's political landscape.
Chairman of the moderate faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq intends to visit China after the Eid festival, following his visit to Pakistan.
Geelani also criticised porous borders, self-governance and other formulas being put forth by the Pakistan President, General Parvez Musharraf, to meet India midway in resolving the Kashmir dispute.
Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil had said yesterday that the talks would be held 'within the four walls fo the Constitution'.
New Delhi had suggested April 14 or 15 for a meeting between the APHC and the PM, but Hurriyat Conference representatives will be reaching Delhi only on April 16.
The pro-Pakistan Peoples League criticised Mirwaiz Umer Farooq for holding talks with the Centre.
Moderate Hurriyat leader Maulana Abbas Ansari says he expected peace talks between India and Pakistan to resume soon.
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."
"My decision to join the moderate group is aimed at strengthening the separatist voice in Kashmir," Aziz said. "Kashmiris are the basic party to the dispute, and must be included in the ongoing peace process to make it meaningful and result-oriented," he added.
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.
Jamaat-e-Islami has removed the hardline leader in an attempt to moderate the extremist voices in the separatist amalgam.
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.
Authorities on Tuesday imposed restrictions in old city in Srinagar to foil plans of moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference to hold a rally at Eidgah to commemorate the death anniversary of its two assassinated leaders.
The efforts to forge unity among the various Kashmiri separatist groups received a jolt after hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani rejected the unity move of the moderate, All Parties Hurriyat Conference on Wednesday.
Chairman of the moderate, All Parties Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq on Friday lambasted the government for 'wooing tourists from Israel'.
The headquarters of the moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference on Sunday witnessed ugly scenes as rival supporters clashed with each other during a seminar.
"We completely support the ongoing peace process between India and Pakistan, which is extremely likely to produce a permanent and acceptable solution to the Kashmir problem," Professor Gani added.
Talking to rediff.com, APHC Chairman Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq said 'Moulvi Abbas, by meeting the interlocutors, had violated the conglomerate's policy decision'.
Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq was detained along with hundreds of his supporters for staging a protest in Srinagar, coinciding with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Jammu and Kashmir. The rally was, however, intercepted by the police at Munawarabad area resulting in clashes. The police had to use tear gas and resort to repeated baton charges to disperse the protest rally.
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.
He has been politically inactive of late, particularly since the abrogation of Article 370 in August last year which had far-reaching consequences for the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. He has been politically inactive of late, particularly since the abrogation of Article 370 in August last year which had far-reaching consequences for the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Seven members of the moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference general council have quit the conglomerate over differences with the top leadership on "restoration of the Hurriyat constitution".
Seeking US intervention, the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference launched a signature campaign to ask President Barack Obama to change America's policy on Kashmir as India and Pakistan have "failed to resolve" the issue bilaterally.
With US President Barack Obama visiting India next month, the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference said it would launch a signature campaign on Monday, calling for America's intervention as a third party to resolve the Kashmir issue.
Moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq on Friday confirmed that Dileep Padgaonkar, veteran journalist and one of the interlocutors appointed by the Centre for Kashmir, had called him for a meeting. "Dileep Padgaonkar called me on Thursday and requested a meeting, which I declined. I told Padgaonkar that it was our stand not to meet them as long as our demands are not met," the Mirwaiz said.
Three Hurriyat Conference leaders were taken into custody, as police foiled the separatists plan to march in connection with Martyrs day on Monday.
Shabir Shah, senior separatist leader and chairman of the Democratic Freedom Party, on Monday laid down some conditions before the DFP joins a front representing all the moderate separatist parties in Kashmir. Shah was responding to the call for unity by Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq, chairman of the moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference. Farooq had asked all separatist parties to unite under the aegis of a common banner.
Authorities imposed restrictions in certain areas of Srinagar on Saturday to scuttle a protest march called by separatists to coincide with Martyr's Day
The ruling National Conference-Congress coalition in Jammu and Kashmir received a severe drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections as the coalition could not win even a single seat of the 6 in the state.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday welcomed the likely Centre-Separatist dialogue to be held away from media glare.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, Omar Abdullah on Thursday asked the leaders of the moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference group to hold talks with the government of India as well, after their return from Pakistan.
Supporters of Mirwaiz took to streets shouting slogans and pelted stones at passing vehicles in the old city areas, stronghold of the moderate APHC leader.
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