Mirwaiz not to meet mediators

Mirwaiz presided over a meeting of the executive council of his faction in which a decision was taken not to meet the interlocutors—Dileep Padgaonkar, Radha Kumar and M M Ansari — who started their Kashmir visit on Saturday.

Later addressing a press conference, Mirwaiz said: “Engaging interlocutors for talks is a futile exercise. This is an attempt by the Government of India to keep on lingering the Kashmir issue.”

The Hurriyat chairman, who held several round of talks with the former NDA government at the Centre and later with the UPA government, viewed that the talks should be at the highest level.

“We have held dialogues at the prime minister and deputy prime minister’s levels with the Central government and also in Pakistan in the past. What purpose will the talks with the present interlocutors serve,” he wondered.

Mirwaiz stated that interlocutors are appointed in places where there is confusion or the message of the people is not clear.

“The message from Kashmir is loud and clear. The people here want resolution of the issue through the right to self determination,” he said.

He sought direct US intervention into the Kashmir issue saying both India and Pakistan had failed to solve the issue. “The US must pressure India and Pakistan to solve the issue as per the aspirations of Kashmiris. We have launched a signature campaign in this connection and will present it to the US president Barrack Obama during his visit to India,” Mirwaiz said.

Writer and activist Arundhati Roy was also in the city on Sunday to take part in a seminar where she urged Kashmiris to look for new ways to solve the issue. She described as justified the separatist struggle and told Kashmiris to take active part in it.