Terming the Ramzan ceasefire a “cosmetic measure”, separatists on Thursday sought a “comprehensive plan” to resolve the Kashmir issue either through implementing the UN resolution or negotiations between India, Pakistan and the Kashmiri leadership.
This statement was made by joint resistance leaders Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik during a seminar on ‘Responsibility of Leadership in Safeguarding the Sanctity of Martyrdom’, which was organised by the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference headed by Mirwaiz at its Rajbagh headquarters.
Earlier the duo held a meeting with hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani at his Hyderpora residence to discuss the Ramzan ceasefire and chalk out the future strategy, sources said.
“Since yesterday, drums are being beaten that we have declared a ceasefire for one month. Will the Kashmir issue get resolved after this is over,” Mirwaiz said at the seminar while questioning the rationale of the monthlong Ramzan ceasefire if it was not aimed at conflict resolution. He said the youth of Kashmir had been “pushed to the wall and forced to pick up the gun”.
“Should we not address the reasons why youth are picking up the gun. The root cause is the Kashmir issue. Ceasefire is no solution unless the Kashmir issue is addressed,” he said. The Hurriyat has always said that there are only two ways to resolve or address the Kashmir issue, Mirwaiz said, adding that it should either be resolved by implementing the UN resolution or through a dialogue process involving India, Pakistan and Kashmiris.
Mirwaiz, who was flanked by Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik and senior Hurriyat leaders Prof Abdul Gani Bhat and Bilal Lone, said the strikes and shutdowns were a compulsion and had not helped them “achieve our goals”. He said the resistance leadership was working to find alternatives to the strikes to register its protest.
Echoing the views of Mirwaiz, Malik in his address claimed that New Delhi wanted to force the people of Kashmir to surrender in Lal Chowk but Kashmiris would “continue the resistance.”
Later talking to the media in the presence of Mirwaiz, Malik said the Ramzan ceasefire was a cosmetic measure unless followed by a comprehensive plan to address the Kashmir issue.
“They said that we won’t kill you for one month. What next? Should we surrender? This ceasefire is a cosmetic measure unless followed by a comprehensive plan,” Malik said, adding that both India and Pakistan along with the people of Kashmir must sit together to find a solution to the Kashmir dispute through a “democratic way”.
Geelani & Co seek ‘permanent halt’ to ops
Moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF chief Yasin Malik held a meeting with hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani at his Hyderpora residence on Thursday afternoon to discuss the ‘Ramzan ceasefire’. Terming the ceasefire a “cruel joke” with the people of Kashmir, the separatists in a joint statement issued at the end of meeting said “people want a permanent halt on war thrusted by India”.
