Separatists cool to BJP’s plan

The two frontline separatist bodies in Kashmir — Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq’s moderate wing — are strangely cold to the BJP’s plan to hoist the tricolour in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk on Republic Day.

This has left Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front chief Yasin Malik as the only one to dare the BJP with a counter-march to Lal Chowk.

“Hoisting a flag in Lal Chowk will not make any difference. It will not change the reality of Kashmir. Flag-hoisting happens all over the Valley,” said Ayaz Akbar, spokesman for the hardline Hurriyat Conference, said.