Shabir Shah offers to help Amarnath yatris

The offer is viewed as significant as this is the first time since the secessionist movement began in Kashmir that a prominent militant has extended an olive branch to the Hindu community as a whole.

“The yatra is deeply venerated by Hindus from all over India and these sentiments are respected and shared by the people of Kashmir. The yatra and our association with it underlines the rich traditional values of Kashmir in which both Muslim and Hindu cultures are rightly intertwined with these traditions,” his statement asserted.

Kashmir observers see other significant messages in his press statement which indicate a change of heart in Shah. Although known as one of the soft-liners among the Hurriyat leaders, Shah has, again for the first time, talked of involving the people of Jammu in the struggle for autonomy.