Delhi doesn’t mind as Lone meets PoK leader in Sharjah

How did Hurriyat leaders — Abdul Ghani Lone and Mirwaiz Omer Farooq — land up in Sharjah where they discussed Kashmir with Saradar...

How did Hurriyat leaders — Abdul Ghani Lone and Mirwaiz Omer Farooq — land up in Sharjah where they discussed Kashmir with Saradar Qayoom Khan, leader of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK), even though New Delhi stands accused of denying travel documents to most of the Kashmiri separatist leaders?

Sources said Lone had been permitted by the Government to travel abroad for his medical follow-up in the USA. Lone and Mirwaiz, moderates in New Delhi’s perception, were the first Hurriyat leaders to be returned their passports. Lone got it when he was to attend his son’s weeding in Islamabad two years back. Sources said the term of the same passport has been extended again.

It appears that Lone was granted permission to travel to USA on ‘‘health grounds’’. He, however, had to travel via the Gulf to make his Pakistani daughter-in-law, Asma Khan, board an Islamabad-bound plane. Lone, sources close to him said, had left for the USA for ‘‘evaluation’’ of his heart ailment.

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Mirwiaz Omer Farooq had left for Mecca to meet the head cleric (Imam) of the mosque of Kabba whose son had died recently, sources close to the Hurriyat leaders told The Indian Express.

Hurriyat sources insist that the meeting between Kashmiri leaders from both sides was ‘‘incidental’’ and Sardar Qayoom Khan had taken the initiative to make most of the Hurriyat leaders’ presence in the region. ‘‘Qayoom grabbed the chance to meet them since Hurriyat leaders are rarely allowed to travel abroad,’’ sources said.

Hurriyat leaders are upbeat about the meeting as it heralds ‘‘a dialogue within the Kashmiris who are scattered and have divided political opinions on the Kashmir issue’’. Apparently, the meeting had blessings of New Delhi too.

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