On Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s comment on the deteriorating situation in Jammu and Kashmir after the death of Burhan Wani in 2016, the Hurriyat Conference said that it never backed down from talks with the government. The group led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said that it believes that dialogue is the only option for peace and security in Jammu and Kashmir. Rajnath Singh had said that after the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani, he sent MPs to meet the separatists to restore peace, but they refused to talk.
The Hurriyat has reacted to the remarks made by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday. During an election rally in Ramban in Jammu region, Rajnath Singh had said, “I led a parliamentary delegation to meet the Hurriyat Conference as we were ready to talk to them to restore peace. Sharad Yadav along with others went to meet Hurriyat leaders, but they closed their doors.”
He said, “People were demanding withdrawal of cases registered against innocent and minor children and I spoke to the then Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and asked her to release the children. We did everything, but they (Hurriyat leaders) did not respond the way they should have.” Now the Hurriyat has said, “Some facts need to be reiterated to set the record straight.”
what did hurriyat say
Hurriyat said, “In September 2016, Mirwaiz was in custody in Chashmashahi sub-jail. Jail officials handed him a letter from Mehbooba Mufti, which she had written as PDP president, not as Chief Minister. In this, he was requested to meet a delegation of opposition MPs and talk to them.” The statement said that AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, a member of the visiting opposition delegation, had come to meet Mirwaiz in the sub-jail and during the meeting, Owaisi told Mirwaiz that a delegation of MPs wanted to meet the Hurriyat leadership regarding the situation in the valley.
According to the statement, “Mirwaiz urged Owaisi to ask the government to stop the killings and allow the Hurriyat leadership to meet and discuss the situation so that they can decide whether they can collectively talk to the delegation, and also ascertain whether the opposition MPs can help in any serious attempt at long-term cooperation or whether this is just another attempt at crisis management that will be abandoned after the crisis is over, as has happened before.”
According to the Hurriyat, Mirwaiz told Owaisi that no separatist leader was in a position to take a personal decision on the situation. “Owaisi agreed and said he would convey the request to the government and left. Nothing was heard about it after that,” the Hurriyat said. The statement said that the Hurriyat was initially surprised to learn that the initiative was taken at the behest of the Indian government. It said that the fact is that the Hurriyat under the leadership of Mirwaiz has always strongly and repeatedly advocated dialogue on the political aspirations and sentiments of the people of Jammu and Kashmir as a means of solution.
The separatist group said that since the time of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Home Minister LK Advani and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Hurriyat has participated in every offer made by the Government of India.
