Mirwaiz calls for third party role in Kashmir
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the moderate faction of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, on Saturday said third party intervention was inevitable for solving the Kashmir issue.
Mirwaiz returned here on Wednesday after concluding his visit to Saudi Arabia and Geneva. Addressing a press conference here, Mirwaiz said: “The Government of India should not object to third party intervention into Kashmir as it is an international issue. The United Nations (UN) resolutions on Kashmir still exist. International disputes even that in Ireland saw third party intervention.
What is the problem in such kind of intervention into the Kashmir issue?” The Hurriyat chairman said even China has a role in Kashmir, but hastened to add that he does not mean that “only that country must intervene.”
Continued UN role
In fact, the UN continues to have a role in Kashmir. And the US has been playing its role to strengthen relations between India and Pakistan, he said.
Mirwaiz also urged the separatists to make a common minimum programme to carry forward the separatist movement. “We will take an initiative and urge all others to support us,” he said.
The separatist camp in Kashmir continues to be a divided house. The Hurriyat Conference, a conglomerate of over two dozen separatist groups, which was formed in 1993 faced a split in 2003. Since then, the moderate faction is led by Mirwaiz, while the hard line faction by Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Some groups like the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) are working independently.
Geelani says his faction will not unite with those advocating secularism. The JKLF is for a secular and independent Jammu and Kashmir. The hardliner has also reservations about unity with Mirwaiz saying they have been holding talks with the Central government.
