Hurriyat suspends Ansari for meeting interlocutors

Wednesday April 20, 2011 10:06:35 PM, IANS

Srinagar: The moderate Hurriyat group led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq suspended its senior leader Molvi Abbas Ansari from the separatist conglomerate taking strong exception to his meeting the three central government-appointed interlocutors here Wednesday.

A press release issued here by the Mirwaiz Hurriyat group Wednesday evening said Molvi Abbas Ansari violated party discipline by meeting the interlocutors as was disclosed by them at a media conference.

The press release said Ansari's meeting was a clear violation of the collective decision taken by the moderate Hurriyat that none of its leaders would meet the central interlocutors.

The statement said the group's chairman, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, had suspended Ansari from the conglomerate and asked him to explain his conduct at the next meeting of the Hurriyat executive.

Ansari has also issued a statement here saying that he was surprised when the three interlocutors -- senior journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, academician Radha Kumar and senior bureaucrat M.M. Ansari -- arrived at his residence Wednesday morning without prior intimation.

"In line with the traditional Kashmiri hospitality, I served tea to the three interlocutors. They stayed with me for barely twenty minutes during which I explained to them that I could not engage in any dialogue or discussion with them as it had been decided by our group that none of our leaders would interact with the interlocutors," Ansari said in his defence.

Ansari represents the Shia Ittehadul Muslimeen group in the moderate Hurriyat led by the Mirwaiz and has also been the Hurriyat chairman in the past.

At a press conference called by the three interlocuters earlier Wednesday, Padgaonkar said they had "an hour-long discussion with Ansari during which he said he favoured talks with the government of India" to arrive at peaceful settlement in Jammu and Kashmir.

"He stressed that such a dialogue must be held at the appropriate forum and India must take confidence building measures based on the four points already put forward by the Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat group," Padgonkar added.

The Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat group had put forth four points to create a congenial atmosphere in Kashmir. These include release of political prisoners and youth, revoking the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and gradual demilitarisation.

Padgaonkar said the deliberations at the two-day-long round table deliberations held here focused mainly on devolution of powers to the state government, restoration of the pre-1953 status, and the significance of maintaining the regional unity of the state comprising its three regions of Jammu, Ladakh and the Valley.

"There was a consensus among those who spoke at the round table that J&K must become a free economic zone, allowing opening of all road links between its parts divided between India and Pakistan, the necessity for continued people-to-people contact and reducing the footprints of the security forces whose presence gave one to believe India was represented in Kashmir by just the security forces," he said.

The interlocutors also said that Jammu and Kashmir needed to be compensated for its water resources, whose use had been limited because of the signing of the Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan.

Radha Kumar said the interlocutors had met around 450 delegations during the course of their visits to the three regions of the state.

 

                                           Home | Top of the Page

Top Stories

India launches Resourcesat-2, two other satellites

In a boost to India's remote sensing capability, the PSLV C-16 rocket Wednesday launched Resourcesat-2 and two other satellites from the spaceport here.  »

India to launch five satellites by June

Space programme can help realise sustainable development: PM

  Most Read

Dharna at 62 places of Malegaon; demand for local youths' release intensifies

More than 300 people at 62 places sat for a day-long dharna April 19 demanding release of the local youths arrested in the 2006 Malegaon blast case and a ban on Hindutva  »

Lucknow Maulana issues fatwa against female foeticide

Alarmed by the latest census report confirming a steep fall in the male-female ratio in Uttar Pradesh - India's most populous state - a leading cleric from a prominent Islamic seminary here  »

India's population is 1.21 billion, gender imbalance worsens

  News Pick

Super 30 founder is Europe magazine's global personality

Anand Kumar, who founded Super 30, Bihar's free coaching centre which helps economically backward students crack the IIT-JEE, has been selected by »

Prof. Ahsan Jan Qaisar: As I can remember him

This great scholar of Medieval Indian history and one of the iconic historians to have been produced by the AMU’s famous Department of History breathed his last on Friday, 15th April 2011. Thanks to my teacher Mr. M. K.  »

Government website has incomplete map of India

 A government website, in one of its pages mapping the country's police wireless communication network, shows a distorted map of India, cutting off parts of Jammu and Kashmir that New Delhi claims are under the illegal   »

Bhopal tragedy: Apex court comments on its own verdict

The Supreme Court normally does not pass orders directing the framing of charges against accused under a specific provision of law, the apex court observed Wednesday while hearing a petition related to the 1984 Bhopal  »

Lokpal Panel: Bhushans sink deeper into controversy but fight back

Fresh allegations of corruption surfaced against Lokpal bill joint committee co-chair Shanti Bhushan Wednesday. But the Bhushans fought back, demanding a public apology from  »

Picture of the Day

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his wife Mrs Gursharan Kaur in a procession for laying wreath ceremony at Monument of the Defenders of Motherland, at Astana, in Kazakhstan on April 16, 2011.

(Photo: Shivraj)