With the Hurriyat Conference leaders refusing to entertain the members from all-party delegation visiting Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti may have considerably gained in establishing the futility of engaging the separatists to end ongoing violence in the Valley. Mufti has held the ground that the violence was outcome of the “mischief by a mere five percent” which did not believe in the peaceful resolution of the crisis.
Hurriyat leaders had earlier refused to entertain Mufti’s invitation to meet the visiting delegation led by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh with prominent leaders like Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Former state CM Ghulam Nabi Azad, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav on board. The delegation consists of 30 members from 20 parties.
The attempts by five opposition members to reach out to the separatists came a non-cropper with hardline leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani even refusing to meet them. Four MPs —Yechury, CPI’s D Raja, Sharad Yadav and RJD’s Jay Prakash Narayan, broke away from the group and went to meet Geelani at his residence where he is under house arrest for the last 60 days.
They were received with slogans outside the residence whose gate was not opened for them. Geelani saw them from the window but refused to meet the parliamentarians. “It is our effort to show that we are ready to talk to anyone whether they agree to meet or not,” Yadav said.
The group also went to meet JKLF chief Yaseen Malik who is under detention at BSF camp in Humama. He told the MPs that he will talk when he visits New Delhi. The group tried to meet former Hurriyat Chairman Abdul Ghani Bhat who also refused to talk to them. Bhat welcomed the leaders but made it clear it has been decided that no talks will be held with the delegation members.
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi went separately to meet moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in Chashma Shahi sub-jail where he is detained.
Mirwaiz met Owaisi briefly during which only pleasantries were exchanged.
Earlier in the day, the separatists had rejected Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s invitation, terming such a measure as “deceitful” and insisting that it cannot be an alternative to a “transparent agenda-based dialogue to address the core issue.”