Mirwaiz calls for meaningful engagement with Pakistan to resolve Kashmir dispute

SRINAGAR, Sep 25 (SABAH): Senior All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has called upon India to engage in a meaningful dialogue process with Pakistan for final settlement of the Kashmir dispute as per aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

According to media reports, in a media interview in Srinagar, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq maintained that dialogue and mutual understanding, not war, are essential for resolving Indo-Pakistan tensions.

“As long as both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in its entirety the conflict is alive, and the sentiment of the people persists. And as long as the sentiment is alive Hurriyat is alive and relevant.”

To a question he replied: “I believe the moment stakeholders are ready to engage possibilities open up. We have and are most willing to resolve and settle the issue for good. New Delhi has to take the call. As for the key element, addressing peoples’ sentiment and aspirations is the mainstay of the engagement. How that comes about is open to workability. We already have the previous framework of dialogue from Vajpayee ji’s and Manmohan Singh ji’s time to begin with. Release of all political prisoners including leadership can be an important first step.

He rejected the label of Hurriyat as a “separatist” organization coined by India, emphasizing that Hurriyat instead is a resolution seeker whose entire focus is on resolving the Kashmir dispute in its historical perspective.

He said the abrogation of Article 370 has made Kashmiri people vulnerable to demographic engineering, loss of identity, and disempowerment. The Reorganization Act of 2019 has exacerbated these issues by granting domicile rights to outsiders.

Mirwaiz highlighted that Article 370 was a constitutional commitment made by the Indian state to safeguard the land, resources, and jobs of the people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Despite the Government of India’s claims of peace, people are silenced due to fear of repercussions. Extreme measures of repression, arrests, and media gags have forced people to self-censor, creating an atmosphere of intimidation.

“All political leaders and activists across the spectrum were detained, huge arrests of civil society members and youth was made. All communication lines were snapped, complete media gag was imposed and so on. Now it’s been more than five years since the 2019 unilateral changes and all these five have seen the continuation of this policy.”

“Political prisoners, youth, civil society members, rights activists, journalists, lawyers, and all others in jails in J&K and across India must be released and cases against them under PSA and UAPA revoked. The condition of many of them in jails is miserable and that is a constant concern for their families and the people of Kashmir. The atmosphere of intimidation in Jammu and Kashmir through surveillance, application of stringent and draconian laws, reprisals through arrests, dismissals from jobs, legal suits, attachment of properties, cyber watch by authorities in public , all these should be stopped,” he said.

To achieve peace, Mirwaiz advocated for restoring safeguards to land, resources, and jobs, creating youth opportunities, allowing self-governance, and initiating engagement for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

Both Hurriyat and local political parties have their own spheres of influence and approaches, and by working together, they can address pressing issues facing the territory. However, Mirwaiz noted that the distinction lies in prioritizing people’s causes and interests over personal gain.

The APHC leader shared his personal struggles under house detention since August 2019 and ongoing restrictions, including being barred from delivering Friday sermons at the central Jamia Masjid. These limitations have affected his life, work, and social reform initiatives. The current situation demands bold action to release political prisoners, revoke draconian laws, and ensure freedom of expression and assembly, he added.