Mufti under fire from separatists

Taking Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed head-on over the arrest of separatist leader Masarat Alam Bhat, the hardliner Hurriyat faction led by Syed Ali Geelani Friday said his (Mufti’s) promise that democracy is a ‘battle of ideas’ has proven a hoax.

“Mufti’s ‘battle of ideas’ and ‘goli nahi boli’ slogans seem to have dried up and he has adopted the policy of the previous Omar Abdullah led government with regard to pro-freedom people. Mufti used to criticize Omar for his policies of detaining Hurriyat leaders and was advocating political space to them. But his government has not even completed a month and he completely collapsed and all his promises proved to be a hoax,” hardline Hurriyat spokesperson Ayaz Akbar said in a statement.

Geelani, who during and before Assembly elections, was selective in criticising Mufti, has of late started a tirade against the government. “Mufti wanted to befool people by his ‘sweet words’ and was trying to project himself a ‘pro-Kashmir.’ But actually J&K is directly ruled by the Indian home ministry and army,” he claimed.

Moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also lashed out at the Mufti-led government saying his claims of zero tolerance towards human rights violations have proven to be an utter lie.

“Just for the sake of government formation, the PDP made tall claims of revoking AFSPA, putting on trial forces’ personnel involved in the killing of unarmed Kashmiris, and release of political prisoners from jails,” Mirwaiz said while addressing a Friday congregation at Jamia Masjid.

“The truth is PDP has kneeled before BJP’s extremist agenda on Kashmir,” he said.