J&K: Hurriyat slams BJP leader’s ‘separatists will have join mainstream’ remark

The Hurriyat was referring to senior BJP leader Sunil Sharma’s remarks on Wednesday when he said Hurriyat leaders and separatists should either join the mainstream or go to jail

Separatist alliance All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, on Thursday called expressed displeasure over the comments of a Bharatiya Janata Party leader who said ‘separatist leaders have to either join the mainstream or go to jail’.

Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. (File Photo)

The Hurriyat was referring to senior BJP leader Sunil Sharma’s remarks on Wednesday when he said Hurriyat leaders and separatists should either join the mainstream or go to jail.

“All those people, including Hurriyat leaders and separatists, have to join the mainstream as they have no option left now. All doors have been closed for them...they either have to join the mainstream or go to jail,” Sharma said while responding to reports of a separatist leader planning to join mainstream politics.

The APHC in response that it stands by its principle that the “Kashmir conflict has to be resolved”.

“The Hurriyat conference is the external manifestation, in the form of a political platform, of the deep desire for resolution (of Kashmir) among the people of J&K for decades. Hurriyat seeks lasting peace and stability and good neighbourly relations in the region, an immediate consequence of the settlement of the conflict,” it said in a statement.

The alliance said their belief defies the “hyper nationalist outlook of the ruling dispensation” in India at present.

“They have detained Hurriyat leaders, activists, while others are in jails or at their homes (house arrest) for this reason. The open threat of jails and incarceration being given by some member of the ruling dispensation is unfortunate and authoritarian... [This] will not change the reality as Hurriyat sees it,” it said.

Clarifying their stand, the Hurriyat said it was not running the “so called Pakistan shop in Kashmir” and will “now have to run Indian shop in Kashmir” as alleged by the BJP leader.

“APHC, unlike such people, has no vested interest or political ambition. It solely represents the aspirations of people of J&K with dignity, with goodwill towards people of both countries,” it said.

The Hurriyar further alleged that “arrests have been weaponised” to harass people and instill fear.

“Hundreds of Kashmiris, irrespective of their age and background, including religious scholars, are languishing in prisons and detention centres under draconian laws awaiting trials that are delayed. This also includes APHC chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, under arbitrary house detention since August 2019,” the statement said.