Reacting sharply to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s remarks made in the Valley, separatists have alleged that there was no official invitation for talks.
“Mr. Singh’s press conference [in Srinagar] was full of lies, deceit, denial and contradictions. They [the Government of India] never officially invited us and at the same time blame us for rejecting it [the invitation],” said Tehreek-e-Hurriyat founder Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
He accused the Centre of playing a game to win only. “It was aimed at discrediting us. India is scared of any meaningful dialogue with the Hurriyat and Pakistan,” said Mr. Geelani.
On Mr. Singh’s remarks that the separatists’ behaviour defied Kashmiriyat, insaaniyat (humanity) and jamhooriyat (democracy), Mr. Geelani said, “Visiting delegations should have gone around the length and breadth of Jammu and Kashmir to witness for themselves the ‘gifts’ of Indian democracy.”
‘State repression’ Chairman of the Awami Action Committee Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who remains in a Srinagar sub-jail, also questioned “if holding Kashmiris hostage for two months and unleashing State repression is insaaniyat”. The Mirwaiz, in a statement issued from jail, said the member of the all-party delegation that visited him in the jail “did not have the mandate to talk outside the Indian Constitution.”
Published - September 07, 2016 01:26 am IST
