SRINAGAR, Dec 4: The hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani has rejected the invite from Pakistani government calling it an “unfruitful exercise” and has cautioned that it would only serve the interests of the political leadership in that country.
“The elections for Pakistan national assembly are being conducted in near future and it is evident that the present administration in Pakistan is not in a position to take any decision with regards to Kashmir. They (Pakistani government) need some sort of election stunts.
The nation has offered unprecedented sacrifices and Hurriyat conference should never use its institution in the election politics of Pakistan or play any role in it,” said a spokesperson of the Geelani faction of the Hurriyat.
Pakistan is due for general elections in 2013.
Moderate separatist leader and chairman of his faction of the Hurriyat, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq is scheduled to visit Pakistan on December 17 alongwith a group of his senior colleagues.
He has said that the visit has a purpose beyond the outcome of the ongoing dialogue between India and Pakistan.
“The main point of our Pakistan agenda is the reassertion of our role as a party in the negotiations on Kashmir,” he told Tehelka magazine.
Geelani has also made an indirect hit at the moderate separatist camp for what he said were their attempts to “change the status of Kashmir issue and allocating hype to the commerce and trade issues.”
The Mirwaiz group has been engaging with groups of traders and civil society members in what they say was a feedback gathering activity before their Pakistan visit. The Mirwaiz also recently said he had invited a group of foreign experts to help in making Kashmir “self-reliant”.
“The upcoming visit to Pakistan is the media stunt, they want to accomplish their ambitions and provide a substitute for the aspirations of people of Kashmir with so called trade and economic activities,” Geelani’s spokesperson said.
“Some quarters are bent upon motivating the people that in present scenario, the trade is the priority and the core issue with regards to the political future of Kashmir comes next.”
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