Centre knows Kashmir problem in its entirety, does nothing: Mirwaiz : The Tribune India

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Centre knows Kashmir problem in its entirety, does nothing: Mirwaiz

SRINAGAR:Asserting that the people of Kashmir have lost trust in dialogue and believe that Delhi can never be sincere, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who heads the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, has said that despite the fact that the “Government of India knows the whole Kashmir issue in its entirety, it is doing nothing (to address it)”.

Centre knows Kashmir problem in its entirety, does nothing: Mirwaiz

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq



Arun Joshi
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 23

Asserting that the people of Kashmir have lost trust in dialogue and believe that Delhi can never be sincere, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who heads the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, has said that despite the fact that the “Government of India knows the whole Kashmir issue in its entirety, it is doing nothing (to address it)”.

In an interview to The Tribune, Kashmir’s top separatist leader said the “issue here is not Hindu India versus Muslim Kashmir”. Rather, “it is a political issue which needs India, Pakistan, Srinagar and Muzaffarabad to come on board and deliberate on it as an alternative to the UN resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir”.

Mirwaiz, a key member of the Joint Resistance Leadership along with Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mohd Yasin Malik, said “the fact is that Pakistan is there, militancy is there, but there is a strong indigenous factor. There are aspirations of Kashmiris and those are political, which cannot be undermined by any stretch of imagination”.

He said “when Narendra Modi arrived on the scene, we had hoped that he would re-visit the Vajpayee approach and seek to resolve the issue. But, the situation has deteriorated and now dangerous times are staring at us”.

The separatist leader said whenever Modi visits Kashmir, he talks of “peace, development, youth and hugging Kashmiris, but at the end of the day, the outcome is all-out operations”.

Mirwaiz, whose father Moulvi Mohd Farooq was assassinated in May 1990, regretted that “New Delhi has utilised the phases of dialogue only to prolong things or achieve some other goals. We were let down”. 

“We entered into a dialogue (a reference to his group’s talks with Vajpayee, Advani and Manmohan Singh) but what came of it? Nothing. The dialogue became a casualty. I became a casualty. Mushtaq Sahib (his uncle) was killed, (the Mirwaiz family run) school was burnt, and there was a grenade attack on us”.

He said if Delhi believes “talks and terror cannot go together, let it also understand that the killing of Kashmiris — civilians, militants or people caught in crossfire — and talks also cannot go together. With each killing, the anger is increasing”.

On the month-long ceasefire that ended last Saturday, Mirwaiz said, “First they went out with a ‘danda’ and then announced a ceasefire as if that period would undo all the wrongs of the past. And when that did not work, the ‘danda’ was brought back. This is not the way policies are made, it needs a lot of groundwork”.

He said the “iron fist policy will not work. They are talking of eliminating boys; that would pave way for recruitment of more youth. Local youth are joining militancy —  most are victims of police harassment and torture; from stone pelters, they have ascended to the next level”.

“There are two ways out — grant the right to self-determination under the UN resolutions or hold talks between Delhi and Islamabad, Srinagar and Muzaffarabad (capital of PoK). Whether or not the iron fist policy delivers BJP victory in 2019, it will not help resolve the Kashmir issue,” he said.

On the fall of the PDP-BJP government, Mirwaiz said it hasn’t made “any difference to us. Mehbooba did not get anything done on her Agenda of Alliance”. He termed the killing of prominent journalist Shujaat Bukhari “shocking and a great loss”.

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