Now JRL divided to condole Vajpayee's demise | Mirwaiz sheds crocodile tears, Geelani, Malik silent | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Aug 17: Amid growing differences in the so called Joint Resistance Leadership over their policies on Kashmir, in the latest the JRL is divided on whether or not to condole the demise of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. While Vajpayee is globally known for his "Kashmiriyat, Jamhuriyat and Insaniyat" policy, the separatists couldn't avoid their hypocrisy and doublespeak even on his demise. While the pro-Pakistan hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani who heads the Hurriyat (G) preferred to maintain complete silence as if nothing had happened, the Mirwaiz Umar Farooq headed Hurriyat M condoled the demise on twitter as if to shed crocodile tears. Sources said Mirwaiz decided to publicly condole the demise on social media because his Hurriyat (M) had held talks with the then PM Vajpayee in New Delhi in 2004. His party colleague, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, who was part of those talks, also condoled the demise. But Geelani recalled his "anti-thesis" the way he had opposed the Hurriyat M dialogue with Vajpayee. Sources said the leaders of various separatist parties had tried to come to a consensus on the statement to be issued with regard to Vajpayee's demise but that all the constituents had varying opinions. Apart from Hurriyat (G) the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front headed by Muhammad Yasin Malik also remained silent. Interestingly while Mirwaiz faction had held talks with Vajpayee, Yasin Malik had been silent that time. He subsequently secretly called on Dr Manomhan Singh when the latter took over as the Prime Minister. For Geelani, he had been having a "flip flop" opinion on the Vajpayee's Kashmir formula. Interestingly, however, in 2017, the hardliner Geelani himself evoked 'Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat, Kashmiriyat' to resolve the Kashmir dispute - the ideas he had actually derided when Vajpayee propagated them first in 2003. That time Geelani had parted ways with the then united Hurriyat over the leadership having met Vajpayee. But fourteen years later even Geelani was chanting 'Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat, Kashmiriyat'. Sources said Geelani wanted the JRL to leadership to avoid condolence on the demise but the Hurriyat (M) confronted him and decided to go ahead with the obituary separately. It was reliably learnt that some of the JRL leaders wanted that a unanimous strategy be decided upon the issue through "directives from their Pakistani handlers." "But there was no consensus even on that," said a source. Though the senior separatist leaders pretend to be united through the JRL, their leadership is often divided. |
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