SRINAGAR, DEC 16: In a tacit reference to the heavyweight Syed Ali Geelani, Hurriyat leader Umar Farooq has said that visiting the Indian capital individually or in groups was a part of the Hurriyat diplomacy to mobilise support for resolution of the Kashmir dispute, adding that such trips will continue in future.He was addressing a large gathering at the Jamia mosque in downtown Srinagar, where he is the head priest, on the Martyrs’ Day commemorated by the Hurriyat Conference on every third Friday of the fasting month of Ramzan. He was accompanied by the Hurriyat chairman, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front vice-chairman Javid Mir. Umar also announced the opening of the mission in four countries, namely the United States, Britain, Saudi Arabia and France. He said this was a part of the aggressive Hurriyat diplomacy to win support for the cause of Kashmir. Without talking about the chinks that have developed in the Hurriyat armour over the possibility of talks with the Centre, he said that visiting the Indian capital formed a part of the diplomacy of interacting with the intelligentsia and the Press for mobilising public opinion for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute. Such trips, individually and in groups, were a clear message to hardliners that they had their own way of settling things, he averred. ‘‘Those who conspire for the division of the Hurriyat will never succeed in their endeavour. The Hurriyat Conference is a strong unit and it will never break. It is committed to the peoples’ cause,’’ he said. The hardliners, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Abbas Ansari and Sheikh Aziz preferred other venues for their address. Geelani, Aziz and Shakeel Bakshi delivered sermons at the Jamia mosque in Sopore, which is considered to be the bastion of the Jamat-e- Islami. The three leaders reiterated that Kashmir is a disputed issue and a solution lies outside the Indian Constitution.
