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India, Pak have ‘real opportunity’ to break ice at SCO summit: Hurriyat chairman
India on Friday announced that external affairs minister S Jaishankar will travel to Pakistan to attend a conclave of the SCO in mid-October
Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Saturday said both India and Pakistan have a “real opportunity” at the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit to break the ice and engage constructively
India on Friday announced that external affairs minister S Jaishankar will travel to Pakistan to attend a conclave of the SCO in mid-October. In a post on “X”, the chief cleric of city’s grand mosque Jamia Masjid said he hopes that both India and Pakistan initiate dialogue on sidelines of the summit.
“After more than 5 years, mostly spent under house detention, when J&K, in the August of 2019, went through the rude shock and humiliation of losing its semi-autonomous status, was broken into two parts, downgraded to a union territory followed by a no-holds-barred clampdown and communication blackout, I return to this platform with the same hope of peace and justice for the people of Jammu & Kashmir that I have always desired. Despite increased challenges, the resolve for peaceful resolution of the conflict remains stronger than ever. Generations of Kashmiris have been consumed by the uncertainty. We want an end to it, a fair closure. India and Pakistan have a real opportunity at the upcoming SCO Summit to break the ice and engage constructively. Hope they heed to it,” Mirwaiz wrote on X.
On Friday, Mirwaiz had addressed a big rally at city’s Jamia Masjid and urged central government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to be pragmatic and start a dialogue over Jammu and Kashmir issue’s resolution, while Hurriyat was ready to assist in the endeavour.
He said the elections were no solution to the J&K issue and the issue stands even after the unilateral decisions taken in 2019.
“Hurriyat Conference always maintained that we are not against elections but we are against presenting the elections as a solution to the Kashmir issue. Elections can be for roads, power and water but can’t resolve Kashmir dispute. These are two separate issues. One is civic issues and the other is resolution oriented,” he said adding that he agrees elections were held and people voted but for what this voting was. “There were unilateral measures you took after 2019 in J&K , the way Kashmiris were humiliated and people are fearful in matters of land, jobs and civic issues,” he had said.
