New Delhi, Sep 12 (IANS) Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq Sunday expressed ‘utter dismay’ over what he called ‘the negative attitude of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’ towards political moves to defuse the Kashmir situation.
‘The BJP should not forget it was their leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his government which had initiated the dialogue with Kashmiri groups in 2004,’ said Mirwaiz, chairman of the moderate Hurriyat faction, after the BJP Sunday cautioned against any move to dilute the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Kashmir.
‘We responded when Vajpayee saheb said, ‘Let us begin the Kashmir dialogue in the context of humanity’. The BJP should not forget Vajpayee and his effort,’ 37-year-old Mirwaiz told IANS over phone from Srinagar.
He is also the head priest of Srinagar’s historic Jamia Masjid.
The Mirwaiz was referring to the BJP’s criticism of Hurriyat leaders and remarks that the government’s moves to review the AFSPA in Kashmir would lower the morale of the security forces.
‘The BJP should give up its rigid attitude and start educating the people of India about the realities in Kashmir.’
‘The BJP should make people understand that the struggle by Kashmiris is not against the people of India. It is for the just aspirations of the people of the state, as promised by the founding fathers of the Indian state and agreed upon before the United Nations.’
‘Nor is the struggle in Kashmir by a Muslim Kashmir against a Hindu India,’ the Mirwaiz told IANS.
BJP general secretary and spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad Sunday blamed the Hurriyat and separatists for the worsening situation in the Valley. ‘There is a pattern behind the violence which is orchestrated by handlers from across the border under the patronage of (Pakistani intelligence agency) the ISI,’ Prasad had said.
He said the separatists have been unmasked after violent incidents during a pro-separatist rally in Srinagar after Eid prayers Saturday.
At least 70 people have died in Kashmir Valley since June 11, mostly in firing by security forces on protestors.
