Senior separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has decided to skip the Eid Milan function of the Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi, protesting the omission of Kashmir in the joint statement issued by the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan in the Russian city of Ufa recently.
Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit had invited senior Kashmiri separatist leaders, including Mr. Geelani, Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, JKLF chief Yasin Malik and Democratic Freedom Party chairman Shabir Ahmad Shah for the Eid Milan function. “It is sad that there was no mention of Kashmir in the recent meeting of Indo-Pak Prime Ministers,” the Hurriyat (G) said in a press statement. “As a symbolic protest against it, the Hurriyat has decided to boycott the function.”
The Hurriyat (G) said Pakistan was taking “dictation” from India on Kashmir since the BJP came to power and that they were forcing Pakistan to accept a “minus-Kashmir” agenda for talks.
IANS adds:
“As the two prime ministers ignored the fate of over 10 million people of Jammu and Kashmir in their meeting, we reject being a part of any of their (Pakistan’s) celebration,” Mr. Geelani told IANS over the phone from Srinagar.
“The Kashmir issue is question of life and death for us. Nobody can take us for granted. And I will not attend the Eid Milan in New Delhi to register a symbolic protest,” he said.
Sources in hardline Hurriyat Conference said that no member from the party will attend the event. They said that the scheduled Iftar party at the high commission earlier this month — which was to be attended by Hurriyat leaders from various factions — was cancelled to create a favourable atmosphere for meeting of the two prime ministers.
