A day after the Centre reached out to moderates for talks, separatists reacted sharply to the four-hour long debate in the Parliament over the Kashmir crisis.
Separatist JKLF chief Yasin Malik termed the Parliament debate as a “reflection of the colonial mindset of Indians towards Kashmir”. “The Prime Minster and Home Minister have tried to portray a people’s revolution as sponsored and ‘mischief of some miscreants’, and instead of acknowledging the political nature of Kashmir issue have cited unemployment and underdevelopment as a cause of this uprising. It is callous and a complete state of denial,” said Mr. Malik.
‘Global dispute’Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani, while referring to the Parliament debate, said: “India’s imperialistic mindset doesn’t want to listen to the azadi thunders on the streets. The Kashmir issue is a globally-recognised international dispute with India signatory to it along with Pakistan.”
Another Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said: “Mr. Modi is beating around the bush instead of addressing the real issue. Jobs and economic packages have no bearing on the actual problem. The Indian PM has once again chosen to display the ostrich-attitude and close his eyes to the reality of the ground situation”.
Both Geelani and the Mirwaiz were arrested on Thursday when they tried to reach to Eidgah to offer special prayers for killed civilians.
The separatists have extended their shutdown call up to August 15 and asked people to hold ‘referendum marches’ on August 13 and 14.
