'Never Shied Away': Mirwaiz's Hurriyat After Rajnath Singh Mentions 2016 Rebuff By Separatists

Kashmir separatist group led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has reiterated its commitment to dialogue and said it has never shied away from it. The group was reacting to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's statement on Sunday that the Centre attempted to engage Hurriyat leaders for peace talks in 2016 but they shut their doors.

Srinagar:Reacting to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's remarks on Sunday, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led Hurriyat said a day later that it has never shied away from dialogue with the government as it believes talks are the only way to ensure peace and stability in Jammu and Kashmir.

Singh, during an election rally in Ramban district of J&K on September 8, said in the aftermath of violence following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in 2016, he as the Union home minister had led a parliamentary delegation to meet separatists, but they shut their doors.

Reacting to it, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference said Mirwaiz reaffirmed support for dialogue and said it has never shied away from it "even at its own peril and despite the significant personal costs borne by Mirwaiz and other Hurriyat leaders".

"Under the leadership of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, it (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. Even at its own peril and despite the significant personal costs borne by Mirwaiz and other Hurriyat leaders and their families for such engagements, it has never shied away from them. The Hurriyat firmly believes that this is the only way to ensure peace and stability in J&K and the region, and prosperity for the people, rather than seeking any personal profit or power for itself," the Hurriyat said in a statement.

It added that certain facts "need to be reiterated to set the record straight".

"In September 2016, Mirwaiz was detained at the Chesmashahi sub-jail. A letter was handed over to him by the jail authorities from Mehbooba Mufti written in her capacity as the 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 Hurriyat said.

It said AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, a member of the visiting opposition delegation, came to see the Mirwaiz in the sub-jail and during the meeting, Owaisi told the Mirwaz that a delegation of MPs wants to meet the Hurriyat leadership regarding the situation in the valley.

"Mirwaiz requested Owaisi to ask the government to stop killings and allow Hurriyat leadership to meet and discuss the situation first before they decide if they can collectively talk to the delegation, and (also) 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," the statement said.

The Hurriyat said Mirwaiz told Owaisi that no separatist leader was in a position to take a decision individually regarding the situation. "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 Hurriyat added.

The separatist amalgam said right from the time of its engagement with the former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former home minister L K Advani, to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, the Hurriyat has participated in every opportunity that was made available by the government of India.

The Hurriyat said even after the "drastic unilateral changes" in 2019 and prolonged house detention of Mirwaiz till September 2023, he has been repeating his advocacy for talks at every occasion, "but to no avail".

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