Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s offer of conditional talks has failed to stimulate the Kashmiri separatists as they see in it “old wine in new bottle” and a mere “rhetoric.” “What is new in there?” asked chief Muslim cleric and leader of his faction of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, regretting the Indian leadership
has failed to acknowledge the Kashmiri sentiment. “He offered hand of friendship to Pakistan from the soil of Kashmir but failed to come clearly on the issue of Kashmir. He should have acknowledged that Kashmir is a political dispute which ought to be resolved politically and offer unconditional talks,” the Mirwaiz said.
Reiterating the demand that the Centre should repeal harsh laws such as AFSPA, release political prisoners unconditionally and move back the troops and other security forces from the populated areas, the Mirwaiz alleged the Prime Minister has adopted “circuitous approach” vis-à-vis Kashmir. “When solving problems, dig at the roots instead of just hacking at the leaves,” he said.
What also disappointed him is the Prime Minister’s “evading” any commitment on the human rights issue. “During his previous visits he would commit himself to zero-tolerance on human rights violations by the security forces but this time merely said they have been issued strict instructions to respect the human rights and, at the same time, asserted violations are bound to occur while combating terrorism and violence,” he said adding “It is tantamount to absolving the perpetrators of violence against civilians and also may encourage troops to indulge in more Macheal-like fake encounter acts.”