It was celebration time for the Mirwaiz-led moderate Hurriyat Conference in Kashmir. Even as the Pakistan Supreme Court is yet to pass its ruling on the petition challenging election of Pervez Musharraf as the President, supporters of the moderate separatist group took to the streets on Sunday to celebrate Musharraf’s unofficial victory in the presidential election.Celebrations began at the Awami Action Committee (AAC) headquarters in Rajouri Kadal — the parent organisation of Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. They raised slogans in favour of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and for Kashmir’s freedom.Supporters marched from downtown to Srinagar city bursting fire crackers and dancing. Meanwhile, as they burst fire crackers at Lalchowk, the city centre, shoppers ran for cover mistaking the noise for gun shots.The celebrations were also aimed to belittle the hardline faction of the separatists, led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Geelani has been a strong critic of Musharraf’s policies and has even rejected his invites to visit Pakistan. In fact, after his scathing attacks on Musharraf, Geelani has been out of favour with the Pakistan Government.Musharraf has been both a dividing and a uniting force in Kashmir. In fact, the Pakistan President has been the root cause of differences between the two factions of the separatist conglomerate. If the Mirwaiz has all along been endorsing Musharraf’s proposal for the resolution of Kashmir dispute, Geelani constantly criticised him for “softening his stand on Kashmir and losing ground to India”.This has also blurred the sharp line between the separatists and mainstream political parties in the state. Both the People’s Democratic Party and moderate separatist amalgam are supporting Musharraf’s four point proposal for the resolution of Kashmir dispute and the demand for demilitarisation of Kashmir.
