Don’t talk with Govt: Omar tells Hurriyat

National Conference president Omar Abdullah today urged the Hurriyat’s Ansari faction to desist from holding dialogue over Kashmir with New Delhi unless the Bandipora killings are thoroughly investigated and the guilty punished.

He said there should be no dialogue with New Delhi unless the Centre proves its sincerity by ensuring that such incidents do not recur and the dignity, self-respect and human rights of the people of the state are protected, Omar said in a press release from Srinagar.

‘‘It’s surprising and sad that while Mufti’s predicament to keep silent is understandable in view of his lust for power, others who claim to be representatives of Kashmir have also chosen to keep silent because of the pressures of continued dialogue with New Delhi,” Omar said.

The National Conference president said the Bandipora killings is not a political calamity but a human calamity of untold proportion and needs to be approached in an apolitical manner.