By IANS,
Srinagar: Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the moderate Hurriyat group, Saturday urged separatists in Jammu and Kashmir to come together and said the world wants an early end to the Kashmir dispute.
“The Kashmir problem cannot be resolved unless relations between India and Pakistan improve and their relations cannot improve unless the Kashmir problem is resolved,” the Mirwaiz told reporters here.
According to him, all separatist leaders should formulate a common minimum programme for the best interests of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, where a separatist drive since 1989 has left thousands dead.
“The international community has accepted the seriousness of the Kashmir problem and wants an early resolution,” he said.
This was the Mirwaiz’s first interaction with the media after his meeting with a Chinese envoy in Geneva this month.
The Mirwaiz dismissed media reports that a quiet dialogue was going on between the separatist leaders and the Indian government.
“We have not met any Indian leader in connection with the so-called quiet diplomacy. Kashmir is neither an economic issue nor that of (creating) employment for the educated youth here. The genesis of the Kashmir problem goes back to history. It is a political problem which needs a political solution,” he said.
Accepting that the problem needed to be resolved in a phased manner, the Mirwaiz blamed “the non-seriousness of the Indian government to resolve the problem”.
“Whenever the so-called normalcy in Indian terms returns to Kashmir, India becomes complacent and forgets the issue.
“Whenever a bomb blast takes place here or somebody is attacked or a tourist is killed, New Delhi invites us for a dialogue. After peace temporarily returns, they forget their offer,” he said.
The Mirwaiz said the Amarnath land row was one example of the Indian government’s non-seriousness to address the fundamental issue of Kashmir.
“When there was an agitation against the allotment of forest land to the Amarnath Shrine Board, New Delhi said it was ready to talk to us. After the agitation settled down, their silence also returned,” he blamed.
The moderate separatist leader said the struggle of Kashmiri people for the resolution of their problem was being carried out on three fronts – diplomatic, political and militant.
“The struggle of the Kashmiri people owes a lot to the guns taken up by the youth here. It was the armed struggle by the youth that brought the Kashmir issue to the forefront,” he said.
He said that currently India and Pakistan were focused on Afghanistan and the were apparently not serious on resolving the Kashmir row.
Before addressing the media, the Mirwaiz had a closed-door meeting with the executive council members of his group.