Says Another Constituent Of Hurriyat Conference Rejects Separatism
New Delhi: Another constituent of separatist amalgam Hurriyat Conference, Jammu and Kashmir Mass Movement, has rejected secessionism and declared complete commitment to the unity of the country, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced on Friday.
He said with this, as many as 12 Hurriyat-linked organisations in Jammu and Kashmir have broken off from separatism, resting trust in the Constitution.
“Under the Modi govt the spirit of unity rules J&K. Another Hurriyat affiliate organisation, Jammu and Kashmir Mass Movement, has rejected separatism, declaring complete commitment to the unity of Bharat. I sincerely welcome their move. Till now as many as 12 Hurriyat-linked organisations have broken off from secessionism, resting trust in the Constitution of India. This is a victory of PM Shri @narendramodi Ji’s vision for ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’,” Shah wrote on X.
On April 8, Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League and Kashmir Freedom Front had disassociated themselves from Hurriyat Conference.
Among other groups which announced their separation from Hurriyat include Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement, headed by Shahid Saleem, Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Political Movement, led by advocate Shafi Reshi, and Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Movement, headed by Mohd Sharief Sartaj.
When the groups made the announcement on March 25, Shah had said the unifying policies of the Narendra Modi government have “tossed” separatism out of Jammu and Kashmir.
Two other constituents of Hurriyat — Jammu and Kashmir Tahreeqi Isteqlal and Jammu and Kashmir Tahreek-I-Istiqamat — had also announced their disassociation from the amalgam.
The J&K Tehreeqi Isteqlal is headed by Gulam Nabi Sofi and J-K Tehreek-I-Istiqaamat is led by Ghulam Nabi War.
In March 2019, when IAS officer Shah Faesal quit bureaucracy and launched his own party by the identical name and style, Saleem had taken strong exception, saying his JKPM was launched on April 4, 2000 at the Press Club Jammu, and it became a constituent member of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC).
Faesal later withdrew his resignation and got reinstated to the service, and posted as deputy secretary in the tourism department in 2022.
The development comes in the wake of a five-year ban on the Awami Action Committee (AAC) led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Jammu and Kashmir Itehadul Muslimeen (JKIM) under UAPA. The two groups are part of the Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat Conference. People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has opposed the ban on the two groups. PDP legislators raised the matter in the assembly and urged the government of Omar Abdullah to reverse it.
After the abrogation of Article 370, the space for separatist politics has shrunk with Hurriyat Conference struggling for relevance.