PDP's Hurriyat help for women draws flak

Bhat later defended his comments saying that Mirwaiz, apart from being a separatist, is also a religious head and it is expected that he would help these women since he is running a charity trust.

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Mirwaiz Umar Farooq
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq

The Peoples Democratic Party has courted yet another controversy after one of its leaders told wives of former militants, who had returned from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), to seek help from the moderate Hurriyat Conference.

In a meeting with these women on Saturday, PDP general secretary Nizamudin Bhat told them to seek assistance from Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is running several charity organisations, as "people here have lost compassion". He also gave them the address of Mirwaiz's Nageen residence.

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Taking a dig at Bhat for his remark, National Conference (NC) spokesman Junaid Azim Mattu said that the PDP was from the beginning opposing the rehabilitation policy initiated by Omar Abdullah-led former government. "It is unfortunate these women had to go to the PDP, which is against the rehabilitation policy," he said.

Bhat later defended his comments saying that Mirwaiz, apart from being a separatist, is also a religious head and it is expected that he would help these women since he is running a charity trust.

Bhat argued that there should be a long-term plan for these women apart from short-term ones. "Some of them have developed psychiatric problems. Government would do something for them," he said.