Hurriyat irrelevant, Kashmiris must move on, says Bilal Lone

Former separatist leader Bilal Gani Lone has held the Hurriyat Conference responsible for its own irrelevance, calling the separatist conglomerate “non-functional”, while also slamming Pakistan for creating a “mess” and “fissures” in Jammu and Kashmir.

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The comments of Lone mark a significant departure from traditional separatist rhetoric, acknowledging that both the Hurriyat and Pakistan had “faltered” on opportunities to bring progress to the region.

The next generation is the primary motivation for Lone’s shift to mainstream politics, as he urged the younger generation to accept the reality that India is “too big a power” to fight and advised them not to see the country through the lens of political parties but to “see India as India” to find a space for themselves within the country. He said the present generation has to be told the truth about the last 35 years as they have “no other option” but to enter this new political sphere because “the politics of exploitation has to stop”.

Son of J&K People’s Conference founder Abdul Gani Lone, Bilal Lone asserted that the Hurriyat Conference, a separatist conglomerate formed in 1993, has lost its relevance in the Valley.

“Hurriyat is no more relevant as on date. Hurriyat functional bhi nahi hai (Hurriyat is not even functional),” he said, adding, “let’s be honest about it... when you talk about Hurriyat as on date, it’s not present anywhere in Kashmir.” While acknowledging that people had reposed their trust in the Hurriyat in the past, Lone said the current reality was different.

“Hurriyat Conference has lost relevance because we could not act,” he said, adding, “so the concept of Hurriyat may have been good at that time... but when we visualise Hurriyat today, it is non-functional and somewhere, Hurriyat has faltered, no doubt about that.” Lone was equally critical of Pakistan’s role and said, “We have heard many statements but nothing has come out (of it)”, and added that “Pakistan should help Kashmir in soothing things here, rather than creating fissures out here”.

He dismissed the idea that Pakistan would ever “get” Kashmir through force, calling it a “very silly suggestion”. To illustrate his point, Lone cited a recent escalation of tensions along the border that saw a 48-hour war-like situation. “Not even an inch moved at the border,” he said. Lone said that Kashmiris must now move on. “We need to come out of this mess, whether it is with or without Pakistan, we have to come out of this,” he stated.

He expressed a deep sense of regret over the separatist movement’s failures, saying, “The Hurriyat Conference had got a lot of opportunities, we faltered somewhere. And we could have got something for our people, but we couldn’t. That’s the reality, let’s be honest about it.” In a candid admission of past failures, Lone said his shift towards mainstream politics is born not out of political expediency, but a personal conviction to pursue a “genuine political process”.

He underscored that the primary motivation for his new political journey is the next generation, which he said has been the biggest casualty of the conflict. “Violence has given us nothing. Violence ne yahan par barbaadi hi laayi hai (violence has only brought destruction here),” he said, adding that it has “finished generations”.

Lone observed that a Kashmiri is “nowhere” today and “at the receiving end”, a situation he attributes to years of violence. He said the government should “come and feel Kashmir with their hands” and “give a soothing effect” to the people, adding that they should also listen to voices beyond political parties. On security, Lone said the situation is “first class” but maintained by “the force of the stick”, and stressed that the biggest casualty in Kashmir is “trust” .