Hurriyat chairman Umer Farooq criticises Congress for politicising Indo-Pak peace initiatives

SRINAGAR: Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq criticised Congress for needlessly politicising the fresh Indo-Pak peace initiatives and wanted the ‘rabble-rousers to be reined in for the success of the process’.

Hurriyat led by Farooq, one of the most vocal pro-freedom voices in J&K to support the fresh round of talks between the two nuclear powers unconditionally, has already started deliberations on how the group ‘can contribute to the freshly started dialogue process’.

Farooq is likely to make a ‘routine visit’ to New Delhi in January, where a meeting with Pakistan high commissioner is ‘highly possible’, and it is likely to take place before the foreign secretary-level talks between the two countries scheduled for January 15 in Islamabad.

“I don’t know why Congress is opposing this welcome development. BJP is taking forward the dream of Manmohan Singh and Congress should be happy,” Farooq told ET.

The Hurriyat chairman cautioned that any ‘rabble rouser’ who opposes this process is an ‘enemy of peace and people of South Asia’, and should be ‘reined in for betterment of the region’. The fresh Indo-Pak bonhomie has come as a shot in the arm for the Farood-led Hurriyat, after over 18 months of radical diplomatic standoffs between the two countries.

“I visit Delhi in winters almost every year. I will go in January and meetings are bound to happen,” he said, adding that Kashmir remains the most ‘tricky question’ and it has to be seen how the two countries deal with it.

“India and Pakistan have to evolve a mechanism to engage with the people of Jammu & Kashmir. We are not spoilers. We want to act as a bridge between the two countries,” Farooq explained.