Malik Zahoor
Srinagar, Sep 01 (KB): In a recent statement, the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, has tried to clear off confusions created about the Hurriyat Conference and its leadership.
As several debates have come up on the origin and allegiance of the Hurriyat leaders, Mufti has categorically stated that these leaders are homegrown and not from China or Pakistan.
Mufti as per news agency— Kashmir Bulletin (KB), said this at a time when all political quarters have been claiming consistently that the Hurriyat Conference—a conglomerate of pro-freedom parties in Jammu and Kashmir—is at the beck and call of external influences.
“The Hurriyat leaders have deep-rooted connections to the local socio-political fabric of Kashmir,” Mufti said.
“Their issues and concerns are deeply linked with the regional context—not to foreign interventions.”
She also referred to a seminal past engagement between the Hurriyat Conference and the Indian government, reminding one of meetings during the Vajpayee regime.
In fact, says Mufti, then-Home Minister LK Advani met several Hurriyat leaders in the early 2000s. These engagements were part of an effort by the Vajpayee regime to seek a solution to the Kashmir problem through talks and negotiation.
“The Indian government, during the Vajpayee era, realized that it had to engage with all the stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir,” Mufti said.
“This included talks with the Hurriyat leaders, which was a sincere effort to find an earnest solution for their grievances within the Indian constitution.”
Mufti’s comments underline a bigger argument—one that is rooted in an understanding of the big picture but at the same time disaggregates into very specific, local levels—when it comes to dealing with the dynamics of Jammu and Kashmir.
Her commitment to talking about Hurriyat leaders’ local roots and historical engagement between them and Indian political leaders underlines a commitment to nuanced, fact-based discussions of the region’s political landscape.
As political discourse enters newer dimensions with each passing day, Mufti’s statement reminds one of the interrelationships so intricate and little comprehended that define this ongoing quest for peace and resolution in Jammu and Kashmir.— (KB)
