Says three more groups in J&K dissociate from Hurriyat
DH NEWS SERVICE
SRINAGAR, Apr 8
Union Home Minister chaired two meetings here on Tuesday to review ongoing development projects and the prevailing security situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Shah, who concluded his three-day visit to the Union Territory, chaired the development review meeting at Raj Bhawan here, officials said.
They said Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah were present at the meeting, which was also attended by top officials from the Union Home Ministry and Jammu and Kashmir administration.
The two-hour development review meeting was followed by another meeting to take stock of the security situation in the Union Territory. The second meeting lasted two-and-a-half hours.
Chief Minister Abdullah, however, was not part of the security review meeting which was attended by top officials from police and other security forces agencies including Army, officials said.
The home minister appreciated the work of security agencies in maintaining peace in Jammu and Kashmir and told them to step up vigil.
Shah, who had arrived in the Valley on Monday evening, met several people including leaders from the BJP and allied parties like the JD(U).
Immediately after his arrival on Monday, the home minister visited the house of Kirti Chakra awardee Deputy Superintendent of Police Humayun Muzammil Bhat who laid down his life battling terrorists in 2023.
He spent nearly 20 minutes with the slain police officer’s father, retired Inspector General of Police Ghulam Hassan Bhat, before heading to Raj Bhawan.
Posthumously awarded Kirti Chakra, Bhat was among the four security personnel who died battling terrorists in the dense forests surrounding Gadool village of Kokernag in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district in September 2023.
Security was beefed up across Kashmir during Shah’s visit with armed personnel deployed in large numbers.
Meanwhile, the Home Minister announced that the Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League and Kashmir Freedom Front have disassociated themselves from separatists conglomerate Hurriyat Conference.
Eleven such organisations in Jammu and Kashmir have shunned separatism so far.
Shah asserted that the move demonstrated people’s trust in the Constitution.
“Three more organisations, namely Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League, and Kashmir Freedom Front, disassociate themselves from the Hurriyat. It is a prominent demonstration of the people’s trust in the Constitution of India within the valley,” he wrote on ‘X’.
The announcement came in the midst of the home minister’s three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir.
Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for a united and powerful Bharat stands even more bolstered today, as so far 11 such organisations have shunned separatism, proclaiming unwavering support for it.
Last month several constituents of the Hurriyat Conference announced their disassociation from the separatists conglomerate.
Among the groups which announced their separation from Hurriyat include Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement, headed by Shahid Saleem, Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Political Movement, led by Shafi Reshi, an advocate, and Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Movement, headed by Mohd Sharief Sartaj.
When the groups made the announcement on March 25, Shah had said the unifying policies of the Modi government have “tossed” separatism out of Jammu and Kashmir.
Two days later, two more constituents of Hurriyat Conference — Jammu and Kashmir Tahreeqi Isteqlal and Jammu and Kashmir Tahreek-I-Istiqamat — announced their disassociation from Hurriyat.
The J-K Tehreeqi Isteqlal is headed by Gulam Nabi Sofi and J-K Tehreek-I-Istiqaamat is led by Ghulam Nabi War.
