Mirwaiz’s US visit leaves Indian diplomats uneasy

After spending nearly a week in New York and Washington, All Party Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq left the country with Indian diplomats concerned over the new “strident” tone to his statements in the US, reports Anirudh Bhattacharyya.

After spending nearly a week in New York and Washington, All Party Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq left the country with Indian diplomats concerned over the new “strident” tone to his statements in the US.

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The main item on the Mirwaiz’s schedule was a meeting with the Contact Group of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in late September.

He also addressed the Contact Group during that meeting and the text of that address has left Indian diplomats worried. Particularly disturbing was his reference to the Shopian incident where he stated that “the rape of women has been used as a weapon of war”.

The Mirwaiz’s reference was similar to the comments on Jammu and Kashmir contained in the Final Communique of the Annual Coordination Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the OIC, released on September 25, which was in line with the Pakistani position on Kashmir: “The meeting noted with concern the murder of two Kashmiri women in Shopian in May 2009 by the Indian security forces, which has triggered strong protests by the Kashmiris. The meeting called for a high level impartial inquiry into the matter.”