SRINAGAR: Signalling the changing times in Kashmir’s political landscape, senior separatist leader and Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq shared the stage with mainstream leaders including National Conference president and three-time former J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and PDP leader Iltija Mufti at an event in Srinagar.
It was for the first time since eruption of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989 that a top Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is also cleric, is sharing a stage with mainstream leaders including Farooq Abdullah, Iltija Mufti, J&K Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather, and Congress leader Saifu-ud-Din Soz.
Mirwaiz attended the book release function of “Healer in Exile” authored by Sachin Razdan on the life and contributions of his father and noted neurologist Dr. Sushil Razdan, a Kashmiri Pandit.
Mirwaiz’s presence at the gathering is widely viewed as more than symbolic. In past, separatist leader sharing a stage with mainstream leaders in Kashmir was unimaginable.
After the abrogation of Article 370, the separatist politics in Kashmir has taken a back seat with top separatist leaders and second rung leaders in jail while many have given up separatist path. Some former separatist leaders and members of banned Jamaat-e-Islami also unsuccessfully contested 2024 Assembly polls in J&K.
Mirwaiz, who was placed under house detention for nearly five years after Article 370 abrogation by the authorities, condemned the Pahalgam terror attack last year in which 25 tourists and a local ponywala were killed.
He has also dropped the title of the Hurriyat chairman from his X handle.
At the book launch, Mirwaiz, who has been advocating dialogue between India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue, lauded the role of Kashmiri Pandits to the society in the valley.
The Kashmiri Pandits migrated enmasse from the Valley after the outbreak of militancy in Kashmir. They settled in Jammu, New Delhi and other parts of the country.
“I take this opportunity to remember and recall the contributions of hundreds of Kashmiri Pandit teachers and their service to the community,” Mirwaiz said.
However, the event was not without pointed exchanges.
The NC president Farooq Abdullah delivered what many perceive as a subtle rebuke to Mirwaiz’s past politics.
“Slogans of 'Allahu Akbar (Allah is great)' were raised, but we did not choose that path. We followed the path of Gandhi, and we still aspire to walk that path. India can prosper only when we are together,” he said.
Stressing that some people present at the event may not support him or his party, Abdullah said he harbours no hatred.
“I do not hate anyone. We have to go forward together, and if we do not, it will lead to destruction for us as well as for them,” he said and urged people to “leave path of falsehood and hold on to the truth.”
Mirwaiz had earlier slammed Abdullah’s son and J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah over governance issues.
