The mainstream as well as separatist parties on Friday questioned the Centre’s move to ban the separatist Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) headed by Yasin Malik .
“Mr. Malik renounced violence as a way of resolving J&K issue a long time ago. He was treated as a stakeholder in a dialogue initiated by the then Prime Minister (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee ji. What will a ban on his organisation achieve? Detrimental steps like these will only turn Kashmir into an open-air prison,” said former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti.
National Conference youth president Salman Sagar said the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and JKLF “has weakened the idea of secular and federal India”.
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“Due to these events it’s difficult for the mainstream parties to plant the seeds of faith among masses regarding Indian democracy. May good sense prevail upon people at the helm,” said Mr. Sagar.
Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said he strongly “denounced the ban”. “Such anti-Kashmir tactics will not change the reality of the Kashmir issue nor the urgency to resolve it,” said the Mirwaiz.