Former All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and Muslim Conference senior leader Prof. Abdul Ghani Bhat was removed as the party president on Sunday, days after meeting with Government of India special representative Dineshwar Sharma and expressing willingness to talk to New Delhi.
“As you know, Mr. Bhat’s secret meeting with Mr. Sharma has been a cause of concern for the party. In this backdrop, a meeting of the Muslim Conference leaders was held in Srinagar. It was decided that Muhammad Sultan Magray will be the new president of Muslim Conference for the period of six months,” read the letter written by the Muslim Conference to APHC chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
The party, which is a constituent of the Mirwaiz’s Hurriyat, reiterated its support to the “principled” stand on talks of the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), comprising Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Geelani, JKLF chief Yasin Malik, besides the Mirwaiz. It asked the Mirwaiz to address all communications to the new president in the future.
Prof. Bhat’s removal comes in the wake of his meeting with Mr. Sharma during his second round of visit to the Valley on November 27. He defended his meeting with Mr. Sharma saying “he was not a saleable commodity” and “believed in a dialogue process”. “Talks and talks with a purpose are a way forward,” he had said.
However, Mirwaiz dissociated himself from Prof. Bhat’s “unilateral” decision to meet Mr. Sharma.
“Prof. Saheb should have abided by the JRL’s decision. The stand of Hurriyat is that it believes in a sincere and result-oriented dialogue as a means of conflict resolution of Kashmir dispute. The talks should include India, Pakistan and people of Jammu and Kashmir,” said the Mirwaiz.
All three top separatist leaders have described Mr. Sharma’s visit as “a futile exercise” and “time bidding move”.