Revoke ban on Awami Action Committee: Mirwaiz

Days after the Union Home Ministry declared Awami Action Committee (AAC) — headed by Hurriyat Conference chairman and cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq — as unlawful association and banned it with immediate effect for the next five years, Mirwaiz on Friday called the ban “uncalled for” and demanded it should be revoked.

In his first address at Srinagar’s Jamia Mosque on Friday after the ban earlier this month, Mirwaiz said that allegations made against AAC in the ban order are “not only strange, but also ironic”. “Those who suffered personal tragedies yet practiced patience and advocated peace even in most trying times are accused of disrupting law and order and creating unrest,” he said. “These allegations are unfounded in the face of facts and the party’s glorious history.”

Mirwaiz said his father Maulvi Farooq, who formed the AAC, took the initiative — in 1983 as president — to bury the hatchet and reach out to arch-rivals of decades. He “pursued his vision of strengthening and empowering people through unity and peace”.

“He was opposed to all forms of violence. And that is the reason why despite the risk, he strongly advocated to former PM (VP Singh’s) government in power in New Delhi at that time to talk to the young men in Kashmir who had taken up arms and resolved the issue right then...I want to ask those who have banned AAC that is the organisation founded by a man of such principles a threat to law and order?” he asked.

Stating that it is a known fact that AAC has always “advocated the politics of outreach, dialogue and resolution”, Mirwaiz said how can those who advocate dialogue be “subversive or anti?”