Srinagar, Sept 09: Chairman Hurriyat Conference (M) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Monday said that the Hurriyat led by him has never shied away from dialogue and that it believes talks are the only way forward to resolve political issues.
In a statement, Mirwaiz while responding to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement in Ramban yesterday where he stated that Centre had sent a Parliamentary “delegation for talks with Hurriyat, but doors were closed for them.”
Mirwaiz said that the fact Hurriyat has always strongly and repeatedly advocated engagement and dialogue with the political aspirations and sentiments of the people of J&K as a means of resolution. Right from the time of its engagement with PM Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee,Shri L.K.Advani to PM Shri Manmohan Singh it has participated in every opportunity that was made available by the Govt of India.
Even at its own peril and despite the huge personal costs borne by the Mirwaiz and other Hurriyat leaders and their families for such engagements it never shied away from them as it firmly believes that this is the only way to ensure peace and stability in J&K and the region and prosperity for the people and not for any personal profit or power for Hurriyat,” the statement said, adding that “Even after the 2019 drastic unilateral changes and prolonged house detention of Mirwaiz till September 2023, Mirwaiz has been repeating his advocacy of talks at every occasion made available to him during his off /on house arrests but to no avail,” he said.
The statement further said that that certain facts need to be reiterated to set the record straight . “Hurriyat said that in September 2016 its chairman Mirwaiz Umar farooq was detained at the Chesmashshi sub jail .
A letter was handed over to him by the jail authorities from Ms Mehbooba Mufti written in her capacity as president of PDP and not as the Chief Minister which she was at that time, requesting him to meet with a visiting delegation of opposition MPs and talk to them,” the statement said, adding that “After which AIMIM head Mr Asad u Din Owaisi a member of the visiting opposition delegation ,came to see the Mirwaiz in the sub jail.
During the meeting Mr Owaisi told the Mirwaz that a delegation of MPs wants to meet the Hurriyat leadership regarding the grim situation.” The statement said that expressing great anguish , Mirwaiz requested Owaisi sahab to ask the Government to stop the killings and allow the Hurriyat leadership lodged in different jails and under house arrests to meet with each other and discuss the situation among themselves first before they decide if they can collectively talk to the delegation and figure out if the opposition MPs can help in some serious attempt at long term engagement, or if it is just another attempt at crisis management which will be dumped once the crisis is over as past experiences have shown.
“No leader is in a position to take a decision regarding this individually Mirwaiz clarified . Mr Owaisi agreed to it and said that he will convey this request to the government and left . After that nothing was heard of it,” the statement said. “Hurriyat said it is also surprised to know for the first time as the media is , that this was an initiative at the behest of Govt of India.”(KNO)
