Pak may dump Mirwaiz, opt for Geelani SRINAGAR: The recently-elected government in Pakistan may consider ‘recognizing’ Syed Ali Geelani as the chairman of the Hurriyat Conference instead of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq who had the privilege so far, according to the buzz in political circles here. Though admitting having heard rumours about changes in Pakistan with regard to the Hurriyat, rival factions headed by the two leaders, however, avoid direct replies to queries, taking refuge behind diplomatic answers. “We have not received any official information over the issue yet,” both factions say. Sources, on the other hand, point out renewed warmth between Islamabad and the Geelani-led Hurriyat. “During the past few months, the Pakistan government has officially held various meetings and joint activities with members of the Geelani-led faction based in Pakistan, and they have been verbally told that the government would consider Geelani as the chairman of Hurriyat Conference,” sources insist. Besides, the Hurriyat (G) members have been told to shift their office to the same building housing the headquarters of the Hurriyat (M). “Offices of both factions operate from the same building in a posh area of Islamabad now,” sources told Kashmir Reader. In fact, for the first time leaders of both the Hurriyats jointly held a seminar on October 27 this year to mark the anniversary of landing of Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir. Islamabad’s musical chairs with the Hurriyat leadership started soon after the pro-freedom conglomerate split in 2003 after Geelani protested against Mirwaiz and other leaders for not taking action against the Lone brothers—Sajad and Bilal—for allegedly fielding proxies in the 2002 Assembly polls. People’s Conference of the Lones was an important constituent of the Hurriyat. Initially, after the conglomerate split, Geelani enjoyed Pakistan’s ‘official status’ as chairman of the Hurriyat, only to be substituted two years later with the Mirwaiz, who heads his own faction. Geelani, on the other hand, is at the moment referred as ‘buzurg rehnuma’ by Pakistan’s state television PTV. During his rule, former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had reportedly made serious efforts to persuade Geelani to join Mirwaiz and recognize him as chairman of the Hurriyat. Geelani, a staunch advocate of Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan, however, not only rejected the ‘advice’ but distanced himself from the Musharraf establishment blaming it for ‘damaging the Kashmir cause’ by floating the four-point formula hence giving a ‘burial to the UN resolutions on Kashmir’. “Whenever a new government takes over in Islamabad, it changes its predecessor’s policy vis-à-vis Kashmir,” the sources said. “Nawaz Sharif gave enough hints about what he’s up to when he spoke in the UN General Assembly last month and strongly pitched for implementing the UN resolutions on Kashmir, a major deviation from the Musharraf government’s policy. There will be changes related to the Hurriyat soon,” the sources added. Meanwhile, when asked about the news doing the rounds here, Mirwaiz told Kashmir Reader, “I don’t know anything about it. If Pakistan does not consider me as the chairman of the Hurriyat, what can I do?” A little more forthcoming, the spokesman of the Hurriyat (G), Ayaz Akbar, admitted having heard rumours to the effect, but said that his faction had not received any official confirmation so far. “This is not an issue for us,” Akbar said. “We don’t care whom Pakistan considers as the chairman of the Hurriyat.” “Pakistan keeps on changing its Kashmir policy, and it (the change in recognition) has no effect on us,” he said.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 17:33:53 +0000
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