Kashmiri separatists have termed the invite by Pakistani high commissioner Abdul Basit for consultations ahead of the foreign secretary-level talks as a “routine” matter and shrugged off the criticism of the BJP and the Congress as unwarranted.
Kashmir’s chief Muslim cleric and chairman of his faction of separatist Hurriyat Conference alliance, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is among the invitees, strongly criticising the statement of Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari on the issue said the Congress has once again proved that it was never serious in finding solution of Kashmir problem.
In a tweet, Mr Tiwari had said, “Pak High Comm feting separatists, Pak Army intruding across the border, ISI attacking Indian Consulate in Herat, BJP govt sleeps. Ache Din Agaye (Good times)”.
Reacting to it, the Mirwaiz said Kashmir besides being an internationally recognised dispute has been the main obstacle in developing good neighbourly relations between India and Pakistan, which has become the main cause of tension and hurdle in creating a cooperative atmosphere in the South Asian region. “Instead of encouraging the process of talks and consultation among the stake holders of the issue, the Congress folks have chosen to score points by resorting to petty politicking against their contender who made them to suffer a humiliating defeat in the recent parliamentary elections,” he asserted.
Another senior conglomerate faction leader, Prof. Abdul Gani Butt said inviting Kashmiri separatists for talks or over tea or lunch on special occasions by the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi has been “a very old practice”. He said, “If the Congress and the BJP have started voicing concern over the latest invite it seems to be untenable.”
He added, “Such meetings have taken place during the time the BJP-led NDA government as well as when Congress-led UPA was in power in New Delhi.”
A spokesperson of the Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat Conference added that a peaceful resolution through a meaningful dialogue process should remain the eminent priority for the establishment of real peace and violence free South Asia.