Hurriyat urges Omar to use his ‘influence’ for dialogue

Srinagar, September 24

The moderate Hurriyat Conference has asked former Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) working president Omar Abdullah to use his influence to persuade the Central government to embark on a political process for resolving the vexed Kashmir issue.

In a statement, however, the Hurriyat said if Omar failed to persuade New Delhi in this regard then he should resign from his position as was done by senior PDP leader and MP Tariq Karra a few days ago.

It said, “Day in and day out, Omar Abdullah Saheb has been expressing his concern over the deteriorating situation in Kashmir and talks of resolution of the issue. He also talks about state institution fast losing its credibility.”

In their joint statement on Thursday, NC president Farooq Abdullah and Omar while expressing concern over escalation in Indo-Pak hostility, had also expressed concern over "absence of a meaningful political initiative" from New Delhi over the current political situation in J&K.

The Hurriyat further said, "If he (Omar) is sincere in what he says and really believes that he is the people's representative, then it is incumbent upon him to force the Central government to shun its intransigent attitude and ask it to initiate a serious and sincere political process for resolving the Kashmir issue."

"But, if he fails in this process, then he should resign from his position and ink a new chapter in the political history of Kashmir. In this regard, by putting forth his resignation, Tariq Karra has already indicated a path for them,” the Hurriyat said. — TNS