KL Report
SRINAGAR
Days after the Al-Qaeda threat made headlines in Kashmir, Chairman Hurriyat Conference (M) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Friday remarked that Kashmir problem is not about waging Jihad as the same is a political problem and not a religious one.
“As a religious head, I will say the problem of Kashmir is not religious; it is not a problem of Hindus vs Muslims; or Muslim Kashmir v/s a Hindu India. It is a political problem. It is not about waging jihad. The problem has religious undertones, but it’s a political problem,” said Mirwaiz during an interview with a New Delhi based newspaper. Mirwaiz added, “Our position is that there must be an attempt to re-unify all five regions — not just the areas under Indian control but also those under Pakistani control,” he said.
About Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to India during the swearing in ceremony of Modi, Mirwaiz said that he personally approached Pakistan’s High Commissioner in New Delhi and requested him not to arrange any meeting with the separatists at this juncture. “Let Pakistan and India take the (peace) process forward. We don’t want to play spoilsport, that everyone says Pakistan and India met for a special occasion and now Hurriyat has come and spoiled the occasion,” he said.
Kashmir’s chief religious cleric stated that he doesn’t want people to die on the streets and that the ongoing resistance movement has been graduated from violence to non-violence. “The fact is you might not see protests, but this movement has graduated to a level where it is defined in the psychology and soul of every Kashmiri.”
Mirwaiz maintained further, “Kashmiris have to protest all the time and get killed just to convey the message that everything is not normal. By this mindset, New Delhi is pushing people to the wall. They are telling the pro-freedom parties that there should be militancy and protests again. But we don’t want people to die.”
He stated that the UPA government has had the lot of opportunities to resolve Kashmir but all time at that time was wasted with the divide being strengthened further between Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.” They had many opportunities, with Pakistan, with leaders here to move forward. Cross-LoC initiatives could have been built up, but rather than that, it’s more a politics of division. Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh are at loggerheads with each other.” Mirwaiz stated that Huriyat can be a bridge vis-à-vis Delhi-Srinagar-Islamabad if India wants to reach out and that when a positive start has been made by the Pakistan, Delhi- Srinagar trust deficit must be addressed and holistic approach be taken. (KNS)
