Kashmir.Watch

Author: hamid

  • Mufti Assures honourable return of KPs to their native places

    Cong equally responsible for trust deficit between people of J&K and rest of the country
    JAMMU: Emphasizing on the need of formulating a long term policy to solve all problems of Jammu and Kashmir, patron of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said that Congress is equally responsible for prevailing trust-deficit between people of the State and rest of the country.
    “Like National Conference, leadership of Congress is also equally responsible for prevailing anarchy, chaos and sense of uncertainty in State”, Mufti said while addressing a public meeting at Khanpur area of Nagrota Assembly segment in support of party candidate Yash Pal Sharma.
    Mufti reminded the gathering that it is a historical fact whenever Congress has entered into alliance with National Conference, the State of Jammu and Kashmir plunged into unprecedented crisis and their alliance always proved ominous for the people of this region. “It is coincidence that whenever both these parties shared power, alienation of people increased and faith of the masses in the system badly shattered”, he observed and added that like their previous experiments for enjoying power, the present NC-Congress coalition has also proved disastrous for the people of Jammu and Kashmir as during the last five and half years alienation of people has been increasing with every passing day and credibility of the government has reached to its lowest ebb.
    “Coalition has been exposed due to its misdeed, mis-governance and mal-administration so people are looking towards PDP to get them rid from the present anarchist dispensation”, Mufti said and observed that change is imminent in Jammu and Kashmir and the coming Lok Sabha elections is a step forward towards change.
    “PDP led coalition regime had laid a foundation of mutual trust and confidence among inhabitants of different regions of the State”, he said and challenged his opponent to come out with any evidence of discrimination with any regions or sub-regions during PDP led regime.
    PDP patron said that his party would remove the walls of hatred among different regions of the State and would also remove the trust deficit between people of Jammu and Kashmir and rest of the country. “Through our convictions and programmes, we would remove this trust deficit”; he asserted and added that it was aim of the PDP to remove these misconceptions.
    Observing that PDP is the real voice of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, he said that regional parties were emerging all over the country and PDP is the only region party of J&K which enjoys faith and confidence of all sections of the society.
    He said that PDP had played historic role in restoring peoples’ faith in the democratic institutions of the country. He especially mentioned that 2002 assembly elections were turning pointing in the history of the State when people of Jammu and Kashmir had realized that they can change government through their votes.
    Yashpal Sharma, Dr Sammer Koul, Ved Mahajan, Shanti Devi, Ab Hamid Choudhary, Rashid Malik, Rashpal Singh Bittoo also addressed the meetings.
    Earlier addressing a meeting of Kashmiri Pandits in support of party candidate Mehbooba Mufti, PDP patron reiterated resolve of his party to facilitate honourable return of Kashmiri Pandit migrants to their native places. He sought support and cooperation of the Kashmiri Pandit community to change the present system. “PDP has already started the process of transformation to change destiny of the people of this State”, he said, adding, “I want your role in the process of transformation and you have to be with us in our efforts to establish a new system in the State”.
    He recalled contribution of Kashmiri Pandits leaders especially Sham Lal Saraf, M N Koul, P N Bajaj, Kashyap Bandu, D P Dhar, P LHando and others in strengthening democratic system in Jammu and Kashmir.
    “Aim of PDP is not just to attain the power but our ultimate goal is to change destiny of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and to establish a system where justice will be given to all sections of the society”, he said and exhorted the displaced community to come forward and join PDP’s campaign to change the system. “You have to be instrumental in the process of transformation”, he told the gathering.
    “Return of Kashmiri Pandits to their native places in Kashmir Valley is must to maintain the ethnicity and diversity of Kashmiri culture”, he maintained and reiterated his party’s solve to facilitate honourable return of the community. “It is my desire to bring back all Kashmiri Pandits who have left their homes and hearths two decades back”, he announced.
    Mufti appealed Kashmiri Pandits living in different parts of Jammu to cast their vote in favour of PDP candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.
    “I am here to seek support for PDP candidate Mehbooba Mufti, who is president of our party and contesting Lok Sabha election”, he said.
    Ramesh Koul, Ashok Siddah, Maharaj Krishan, R K Bali, Punnet Jamwal, Dr R K Pardesi, Nanaji Wattal, K B Kav, Sunil Bhat, S K Rana, Anju Bhan, Durga Nath, Hira Lal, Deep, Manoj Koul, P N Zuthsi, Raskeen Bhat, Daeepak Raina, Bharat Bhushan, Ashiq Hussain, Kuldeep Sharma,  Surinder Khajuria, Rama Khajuria, Shami Akhtar, Ropali, Showkat Choudhary, Adv Irfan Choudhary, Najeeb Choudhary, Shak Mohd and others were also present on the occasion.

  • Memory: when Ashfaq Majid confronted NC leader

    Recorded by Seerat Yusra Ali 

    As the group of laborers passed outside, Ashfaq Majid Wani’s eyes followed them. Suddenly, he stood up and marched out of a café in city centre where we were sitting. Minutes later, he walked in with a group of ten laborers and made them sit. All of us looked at him as he ordered tea for them. We were surprised as none of us had money that day. He smiled and asked the present chief of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Mohammad Yasin Malik to rush to his home in Maisuma and fetch money.   
    It was soon after the Operation Blue Star against Sikhs in Punjab had ended that I first met Ashfaq in 1984. We didn’t have much in common except mutual opposition to the Indian rule. A year earlier I had been arrested for the first time when I was a part of a non-violent protest against the government. We were already a group of boys with just stones in our hands and when we met Ashfaq, who was younger than us, we were overwhelmed by his presence and personality. He was educated, religious, had a unique eloquence and his simplicity would bowl any one over. At that time he was not famous, people barely knew who he was. But even as a boy he was respected even by his seniors for his sound character. 
    After our first meeting with him, we met often whenever protests were organized. Days ahead of the Indian Independence Day or Republic Day, government would arrest us. Jails were our homes. As awkward teenagers dissent gave meaning to our lives. 
    Two years later, Ashfaq was instrumental in forming a student group— Islamic Students League. His ability to lead is unparalleled. He seemed from some another world. He was extremely modest even though he belonged to a rich family. In his home one would find the latest gadgets and facilities, but he was never inclined to worldly things and always appeared like a man from street. He would never miss prayers.
    In the same year the student group that I had also become a part of organized an Eid-Milad March in Srinagar, but the government banned it. We were picked up during raids, badly tortured, beaten and injured. But we didn’t give up.
    Next year came the state election. Although the student group strongly opposed elections as our basic demand was to form a free country, we were approached by Mohammad Yusuf Shah, the present chief of United Jehad Council, who was contesting from Srinagar as a Muslim United Front candidate. But we plainly refused to support any political group which was in the election fray. During one such meeting, Shah said his organization was also supporting the struggle to forma an separate nation and wanted to form a government in the state and pass a new resolution in the Assembly. So we called a meeting, where Ashfaq was also present, and came to a resolution that we will support the individuals but not the party. 
    We took part in Shah’s campaigns and on the voting day Ashfaq was assigned a polling agent’s role at the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV) school booth in Jawahar Nagar. His job was to patrol and see the votes were being cast in a fair manner. 
    On that day we were informed that fake votes were being cast by National Conference workers at the Presentation Convent School polling booth. Therefore, we went there only to find that our polling agent had been tied up with ropes. The security did not let anyone in but only the candidate. Therefore, Shah went in and was badly beaten up by the National Conference agents. 
    The National Conference workers had locked the polling booth and were casting fake votes and when Shah was beaten Ashfaq decided to barge inside. A clash ensued. 
    Shah had managed majority votes  but instead NC candidate Mohi-ud-din Shah was declared victorious. Many among us, including Ashfaq, were arrested but some like me went underground. Probably a month later, Ashfaq family secured a bail for him as his uncle was to get married. 
    I bear witness to what Ashfaq told Mohi-ud-din Shah who attended his uncle’s marriage. Mohi-ud-din Shah told Ashfaq: now that I have released you, don’t ever protest again. I remember, Ashfaq replied: “You did a great mistake that you released me. You will always regret this.” Next day Ashfaq jumped parole and Kashmir changed for ever.

    (Aftab Ahmed Dar, a former Maisuma resident, is a businessman) 
                                                                                                                                                                     

  • ROP attacked in Palhalan

    Army recovered weapon, ammunition in Pattan
    Srinagar: Army today recovered one AK-47 Rifle, along with magazine and ammunition in Palhalan area of district Baramulla.
    According to an army handout, at about 0830h today, some unidentified gunmen fired upon the Road Opening Party of the Army near New Colony, Palhalan, Pattan of district Baramulla.
    The Army troops did not fire back to avoid collateral damage as this being a residential area. However, the troops cordoned the suspected area and carried out search. Reinforcements was also rushed to the incident site to beef up the strength.  During the search, forces recovered one Ak-47 Rifle, along with one magazine and 09 rounds of AK ammunition hidden under a pile of woods.
    No injury has been reported to any one and the search operations are still continuing till the last report came in.  (KNS)

  • 12 days left for JK to witness parliament polls

    Polling ends on May 7, counting on May 16. State has 69, 33,118 registered voters
    Srinagar: As the polls for the parliamentary seats in valley is scheduled to be held fromApril 10, the total number of registered voters in the state who are eligible to cast their votes is 69, 33,118.
    According to the details received by KNS, the polling in the state for the six parliamentary seats will be held in five days and the first date of polling will be April 10. On this date polling will be held in Jammu.  
    April 17 will be the second date of the polling on which Udhampur will witness the polls. April 24 will be the polling date for South Kashmir’s Anantnag parliamentary seat. April 30 and May 07 will be the polling dates for Srinagar and Baramulla respectively. The counting of the voters is scheduled to be held on May 16.
    The details informed further that there are 9,633 polling stations in valley with 7,346 Polling Station locations.
    With the total number of 69, 33,118 registered voters in the state- the registered voters between 18 to 29 years are 0.3074 while as the women electors 0.4724in the state. A Candidate is permitted to spend rupees 70 lakhs as the expenditure on polls. (KNS)

  • Shrines of Hazrat Uwais Qarni Attacked

    Militants have bombed a large Shia Muslim shrine in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa.
    Photos of the mosque of Ammar bin Yasir and Uwais al-Qarani posted on the internet on Wednesday showed extensive damage to the exterior walls and roof of the site.
    Other pictures showed concrete and twisted metal strewn on the street outside the mosque with an interior wall collapsed inward.
    The site, seized over a year ago by militants fighting against the Syrian government, was once a destination for Shia Muslim pilgrims from Iran, Lebanon and Iraq.
    The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) had carried out two powerful explosions at the mosque earlier in the day.
    The al-Qaeda splinter ISIL and other Takfiri militant groups have targeted many historical and religious sites in Syria over the past three years.
    Among them are the holy shrine of Hazrat Zaynab (AS) — the daughter of the first Shia Imam, Imam Ali (PBUH), and Hazrat Fatemeh (PBUH), Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)’s daughter — as well as churches in the Christian village of Maaloula, near the capital city of Damascus.
    Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since 2011. Some sources say over 140,000 people have been killed and millions displaced due to the violence fueled by Western-backed militants.
    According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies — especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.
    A recent British defense study showed that about 100,000 militants, fragmented into 1,000 groups, are fighting in Syria against the government and people.

  • Village headman accused of corruption, Govt orders probe

    Srinagar: A village headman associated with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party is being accused of siphoning money meant for the community welfare.
    A delegation from Thayan (B) of Kalaroos told GNS that the Sarpanch, Manzoor Ahmad Malik is ‘committing fraud and corruption’. They alleged that the Malik has grabbed amassed thousands of rupees which were meant for poor people.
    The delegation said that Malik has illegally recommended those persons for Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) scheme – who offer bribe. “He doesn’t sanction cases in the favour of poor families who have no house and are living under extreme poverty,” a resident, Muhammad Rafiq said.
    Despite several requests he hasn’t paid any attention towards us and ironically he threatens us, one of the delegation member Rafiq Ahmad said.
    Ahmad quoted the Sarpanch, saying: “Nobody can harm me…Go wherever you wish.”
    Another resident, Fareed Ahmad said: “I live in my uncle’s house. I also went to Sarpanch regarding the sanctioning of case. But, he demanded bribe from me. I categorically told him that I am not going to pay even a penny.”
    He said that after he declined to pay, Malik all of a sudden dropped his case from the list.
    “In 2010, I was one of the beneficiaries under IAY scheme. That year, government used to pay 48,000. But Malik paid only Rs 29,000,” said Muhammad Yasin, who was also a part of the delegation.
    The delegation said that the Sarpanch not only grabbed the money from IAY but also from National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).
    They said that, “Last year, a developmental work under NREGA was going on in our area. Out of one lac each for three labourers, he grabbed 40,000 rupees –meant for– Abdul Lateef, Bashir Ahmad and Abdul Majeed,” adding: “Instead of paying, he hurled abuses on them.”
    The delegation further said: “Before being elected as Sarpanch, Manzoor Ahmad Malik was an ordinary labour, but now he owns property worth lacs of rupees.” “He has been utilizing the funds for himself instead of using it for the welfare and development of the Halqa,” the delegation alleged.
    The delegation demanded the higher authorities to take a serious look into the matter and said that the Sarpanch should be sacked with immediate effect adding that ‘he has sucked our blood’, adding that, ‘the poor people find it difficult to live under his headship’.
    The Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Kupwara, Itrat Hussain, told GNS that the delegation had already met him and he has ordered a probe in this regard. “A probe has been ordered in this regard and District Panchayat Officer, Muhammad Shafi is enquiry officer,” the DC said. (GNS)

  • No central government has power to revoke article 370: Congress

    ‘BJP seeking votes through false propaganda’
    Chatroo: Congress campaigning committee on Saturday concluded the campaigning on three constituencies including Bhaderwah, Kishtwar and Inderwal. They addressed 30 rallies and more than 70 meetings.
    According to a statement issued to KNS, the members including Congress MLA from Inderwal Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, MLA Bhaderwal Mohammed Sharief Niaz, MLC Naresh Gupta, Advocate Aslam Goni and Congress Leader from Doda Sheikh Mujeeb today addressed 3 mammoth rallies in Inderwal constituency including Thakrie, Mugalmaidan and Chatroo, in which more than 10,000 people from Mugalmaidan, Chatroo, Chingam, Sigdi, Kuchal and its adjoining areas had gathered at the rally venue to listen to the members.
    While addressing Congress MLA from Inderwal, G. M. Saroori accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of “trying to get votes through false propaganda”. “The BJP leaders say one thing in their closed doors meetings and another in public meetings”.
    “They (the BJP leaders) are talking of revoking article 370 of the Constitution, but no central government has the power to revoke this article,” Saroori added.
    Saroori urged the people to rise above caste and religion based politics and vote for the Congress. Keeping in view the existing development works carried out by the UPA-I and UPA-II, it becomes a matter of pride and gain, to vote and support Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is the only suitable candidate to safeguard our interest in the parliament.
    Congress leader appealed to the large gathering at various places during the full day road show in Inderwal Constituency, to come in large number along with their families to caste vote in favour of Ghulam Nabi Azad and make him victorious in the ensuing elections.
    In his address MLA Bhaderwah Mohammed Sharied Niaz asked the electoral not to waste their time elsewhere and vote for the Congress nominees Ghulam Nabi Azad to help the party march ahead on the path of development. “The future is safe in the strong hands of Rahul Gandhi who is sure to become the prime minister,”
    In their address MLC Naresh Gupta, Advocate Aslam Goni, Sheikh Mujeeb and others also spoke on the occasion and termed UPA led government an ideal situation for Jammu and Kashmir and said that the BJP led government at the Centre will not be in the interests of the country.
    They appealed all to support Azad by pressing hand button on EVMs on 17th April. Among others who were present were Retired DC Khursheed Ahmed Butt, Secretary JKPCC Piyaray Lal Shan, senior congress leaders including Mushtaq Ahmed Hap, Mahinder Singh Parihar, Irshad Ahmed Sheikh, Sarpanch Association Chatroo Tariq Wani, Congress block president Chatroo Haji Ghulam Qadir Sheikh, Congress Tehsil president Ghulam Qadir Tappal, President IYC Inderwal Mohammad Latief Mughal, Piyaray Lal Sharma, Mohammad Aslam Saroori, Mansoor Ahmed, Abdul Gani Malik, Bashir Ahmed Sheikh, Captain Jagdish, Ronak Singh, party cadres, beside people in large number attended the meetings. (KNS)

  • NC has lost its regional character: Mehbooba

    ‘PDP set to change rules of the game’

    Srinagar: The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mehbooba Mufti Saturday said the National Conference has converted itself into an available appendage for sharing power with whosoever rules Delhi and by doing so it has lost its regional representative character.

    According to a statement issued to KNS, while addressing a number of roadside rallies in Pulwama segment of Anantnag parliamentary constituency, Mehbooba said the ruling party has abandoned governance and left people to their own devices of survival in the belief that it can stick to power through its ‘special contacts’ at the Centre.
    The PDP president said her party is fighting the present Lok Sabha election to reverse the trend of the elected representatives becoming agents of others in the parliament just to share crumbs of power. She said we are going to the parliament with a definite agenda to bring Kashmir problem under the national focus and change the approach of the Union towards Jammu & Kashmir, which till now has been treated only as a security project.
    She said of all the regional parties in the country NC stands out for its dubious role and its inability to raise vital issues facing the state. She said while all other regional parties are asserting their regional representative character within democratic system to earn benefits for their states, NC has historically done the reverse.
    “Instead of seeking any benefit for the state, they have been representing for decades, NC always found comfort in surrendering the political authority, the administrative space, natural resources and institutions to the Centre,” said Mehbooba. She said people of the state had so far voted NC in most elections with the hope that it would be able to safeguard the interests of the state within the Union.
    “While NC never lived up to that expectation but its present tenure in the parliament has perhaps been the worst. Its members collaborated in the hanging of Mohammad Afzal Guroo, while the state governments of Punjab and Tamil Nadu  and their members of parliament stood up for similarly placed cases with the result the 2013 witnessed only hanging in the entire country, that of Mohammad Afzal Guroo.”
    She said that being in power both at the Centre and in the state, the NC presided over the killing of hundreds of youth and giving an entire generation a bad name of being anti-nationals, criminals, drug addicts, LeT elements etc.
    “It also changed the status of J&K Bank, an institution that could make any state proud and confident, and shifted to the RBI. Similarly, the frauds, like Cricket scandal, BOPEE scam, Drug scam, PHE scam, 2010 killings, Shopian rape and murder case, Haji Yousuf’s mysterious death, Examination scam, recruitment frauds, PSAs, FIRs against 10 thousand youth, Pepper Guns, Chili Grenades, Markundal (Sonawari), Gool, Shopian killings in 2013 etc. all have happened during Omar Abdullah’s tenure and the people have now a clear choice to make between NC and the PDP, she said and added vote for NC will mean endorsement of their shameful acts, fraud and deceit.”
    Mehbooba said the coming Lok Sabha polls are a fight for dignity and justice for the people of the state and whosoever forms the government in the Centre, the PDP will engage all, be it the opposition, regional parties and other shades of opinion both in and outside the parliament, to seek a new Kashmir policy along with a roadmap for its implementation.
    On the occasion the senior PDP leader, Mohammad Khalil Band, MLA and district president; Waheed-Ur-Rehman Parra, youth wing in charge; Er Showkat Gayoor, party leader, Mukhtar Ahmad Band, youth leader and Bari Andrabi, party leader and others were also present. (KNS)

  • G B Pant’s toilet block converted canteen seized

    Food cooked in this canteen was most unhygienic: Health Officer
    Challan filed against canteen owner, CEO cantonment board
    Srinagar: The Municipal Magistrate Srinagar Khursheed-ul-Islam along with the Health Officer of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) on Saturday seized the canteen of G B Pant hospital here.
    Dr Shafqat Khan, Health Officer SMC, told KNS that during their inspection of the canteen it was found that food was prepared in rusted pots and prohibited colours were also used therein. The health officer said that the food is being prepared in such rusted pots that it can cause diseases like cancer. “Even animals could not be fed in those utensils. The gullible people from peripheries are being cheated,” Dr Khan added.
    According to sources the Medical Superintendent (MS) of the hospital was called on spot who said the person has been who is running the canteen has been allotted the canteen by the cantonment board. Sources told KNS that despite the repeated requests made by the hospital administration the canteen owner would not take cognizance of the matter saying that he was under the territorial and administrative jurisdiction of the cantonment board as per the memorandum of understanding between the state government and the cantonment board.
    “And also he was paying the rent to the cantonment board and not to the hospital. He had got rent agreement and the authority letter from the cantonment board. Thereby the hospital administration was not allowed to interfere into the canteen functioning. Citing similar arrangement between the medical shops in and around the hospital and the cantonment board, where the hospital amid nitration is not allowed to interfere,” sources added.  
    The MS G.B Pant hospital has added that the canteen owner has converted the newly constructed toilet block into canteen and has encroached upon the road as he is affiliated with some political party. The hospital administration has already taken the matter with the CM.  
    The canteen has been seized on spot and challan has been filed against the erring canteen owner and the chief executive officer of the cantonment board. The people present on spot complained to the municipal magistrate and the health officer that they have developed many diseases due after eating the food in the canteen which now stand seized by the municipal magistrate. (KNS)

  • ‘Only Mirwaiz, Advani know what happened inside the room’

    India will never say yes to K-resolution, says Yasin Malik
    Srinagar: At a time when the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi asserts that he will follow Atal Bihajri Vajpayee’s mission on Kashmir, the JKLF Chief Muhammad Yasin Malik Friday said given “my personal experience of holding talks with both the UPA and the BJP, India will never say yes to Kashmir solution.”
    Malik said Indian leaders want to buy time through Kashmir-specific overtures just to keep the issue lingering. He, however, has not left the hope saying resolving issues through peaceful negotiations is a globally-accepted phenomenon “and who knows better sense may prevail in India one day vis-à-vis Kashmir.”

    In an interview with Greater Kashmir, the JKLF chief said he has a bitter experience of sharing table with the UPA, BJP, Left parties, and even RSS over the past two decades.
    “I fully subscribe to what my friend and a noted writer, Prof Stephen P. Cohen, (a political scientist and expert on South Asia) states in his book—India: Emerging Power—that for many foreign officials, dealing with New Delhi can be a frustrating experience. Cohen says that Indians are patient negotiators who will wait until the terms improve. They rarely feel pressed to reach an agreement because of domestic politics or bureaucratic compulsions,” Malik said. “Cohen further states that Indian diplomats do not put their careers at risk by failing to reach an agreement. Indians will drag out negotiations in the hope that prices will fall or terms will soft.”
    Malik, while again quoting Cohen, says Indian officials tend to negotiate to gain information. “Indian officials see negotiations as a cheap means of gaining information. This practice is so common that it has contributed significantly to India’s notoriety as a negotiating partner,” he said.
    The JKLF chairman said in 1999, the then Hurriyat leaders were arrested and lodged in Jodhpur jail. “All of us were released in 2000 when (Bill) Clinton arrived. India sent its interlocutors. There was a meeting that continued for two days. The contact between Hurriyat leaders headed by (Syed Ali) Geelani and Indian interlocutors remained on for three months,” Malik said. “It was the Vajpayee-led NDA government. And all of a sudden, those interlocutors vanished. It was the first Hurriyat-Delhi track-two dialogue.”
    Malik said the then Hurriyat witnessed elections and Prof Abdul Gani Bhat was elected as its Chairman. “In 2001, Vajpayee announced Ramadhan-ceasefire and Hurriyat responded positively after taking the United Jihad Council on board. A five-member team was constituted to visit Pakistan that includes Syed Ali Geelani, (late) Sheikh Abdul Aziz, (late) Abdul Gani Lone, Moulana Abbas Ansari and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Pakistan had extended the invitation but India later backtracked,” Malik said.
    He said in 2002, Lone was assassinated. “Hurriyat got divided into two parts and JKLF remained separate. The then BJP government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee initiated a dialogue with the Hurriyat and nobody knows what happened inside the room; either the BJP leader LK Advani or Mirwaiz Umar Farooq know (about it),” he said.
    Quoting from senior BJP leader LK Advani’s book, ‘My country, My life’, Malik said the book clearly mentions that his (Advani’s) talks with the Hurriyat leaders were indeed, an integral element, in the logical expansion, of the Vajpayee government’s overall strategy to ensure peace and normalcy in the State.
    “Advani further states that their strategy had two dimensions-external in relation to Pakistan, and internal in relation to the State. BJP leader further states that their government had achieved significant progress on both fronts. For the first time, a joint statement was issued by Pakistan after Vajpayee-Musharraf met in SAARC that it (Pakistan) will not allow its territory for terrorist activities,” Malik said, quoting Advani’s book: “The free and fair 2002 elections sent a clear message that militancy had no more popular support in Kashmir.”
    He further quotes Advani saying the moderate leaders of Hurriyat “genuinely desired to see end to violence and bloodshed in Kashmir and they have now realized the need for participation in the dialogue process.”
    “I must mention here that there was a significant difference in my approach of talks with Hurriyat leaders, and that of Brijesh Mishra, the then National Security Advisor (NSA) and Principal Secretary to Prime Minister. And, A S Dulat, the former chief of RAW who was serving as an advisor in PMO on JK Affairs and who was in regular contact with leaders in Kashmir, had given some Hurriyat leaders an impression that the government was prepared to look at solution to the Kashmir issue outside the ambit of Indian constitution.”
    Quoting Advani’s book, Malik said the BJP leader has mentioned that he was very upset at this and, in his very first meeting with Hurriyat delegation he made it clear that there was no question of government entertaining any proposal outside the ambit of Indian constitution.”
    “Advani has stated that the first round of talks that lasted for two-and-a-half hours was free and frank and, surprisingly quite fruitful too. He has repeated the word fruitful because Hurriyat leaders had agreed at the conclusion of meeting that all forms of violence that have plagued Kashmir for over five decades should end, and that the roar of the guns should be replaced with the sound of politics. I began the dialogue by first giving the comprehensive historical overview of JK situation,” Malik said.
    Malik said then came the UPA government, and also the new proposals came in and a dialogue was initiated with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “I also met him though separately in 2006-2007. But solution was found nowhere. And we lost years in dialogue without achieving anything. In 2010 agitation, the All Party Delegation arrived here once again. They met Geelani, Mirwaiz and me separately. But the BJP’s two leaders, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, refused to meet pro-freedom leaders,” he said. “Another big joke is that school teachers and journalists were made interlocutors and they made a self-styled solution which is stuck in New Delhi. In between BJP formed a Kashmir committee, headed by Rajnath Singh, who didn’t bother to meet single pro-freedom leaders.”
    He said the past five years are a witness that pro-freedom leaders were manhandled during seminars in various parts of India. “Geelani, Mirwaiz and me were manhandled in different seminars. In Ajmer, my family was also attacked by the right-wing forces. When we (JKLF) went to Delhi last year with the list of 150 people slapped with life imprisonment, I was beaten and sent back. BJP made Afzal Guru as a national agenda after which he was hanged. I have reached to a conclusion whether it is BJP, Congress, or any other political party in India, they have a same stand on Kashmir: beat them, corrupt them, kill them and talk to them just for a time pass,” Malik said. “Whenever there is a crisis in Kashmir, they use Indian civil society as fire-fighters to cool down the tempers. When the situation returns to normal, they don’t bother to come. With the result the Kashmiri people have lost the hope in dialogue institution which is very dangerous. So whosoever will come in power in India, unless and until India will not change its policy, no substantial change will take place in Kashmir. Since 1947, all dialogues, be that with the Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, United Hurriyat Conference, Hurriyat (M), JKLF or with the Hizbul Mujahideen, the dialogue institution failed to deliver in Kashmir; so people of Kashmir have a reason and logic to doubt the credentials of New Delhi vis-à-vis the dialogue process.”
    Asked how he sees Modi card being played by the BJP, Malik said the party’s PM candidate has two buses, one is RSS aimed at entering into a war with Pakistan, use excessive force in Kashmir to suppress the genuine dissent and second is Vajpayee’s bus of Insaniyat that never delivered, but only expressed. “Rest the time is the best judge,” the JKLF chief said.