SRINAGAR, 18 January 2007 — A strike shut down much of Indian Kashmir yesterday to protest planned talks between moderate separatists, Pakistan and New Delhi on the future of the disputed region, witnesses said.
The aim of a planned meeting in Pakistan was to press for inclusion of Kashmiris in any talks to resolve the dispute, which is at the core of six decades of animosity between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, the moderate separatists have said.
The one-day strike, backed by the region’s most powerful militant group Hizbul Mujahedeen, came a day before the separatists were expected to arrive in Islamabad for talks with Pakistani leaders and officials.
The shutdown in Indian Kashmir was called by the hard-line wing of the main separatist alliance, the Hurriyat Conference.
“We deem the holding of talks between some Kashmiri leaders with New Delhi and Islamabad as a betrayal of the blood of martyrs,” Syed Ali Geelani, the leader of hard-liners, said on calling the strike. Attendance was thin at government and private offices and there were few cars on the streets in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, where a deadly revolt has raged against New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Reports reaching here from all major towns indicated a near total shutdown that is also supported by the Dukhtaran-e-Millat group and some other separatist organizations.
Led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the moderate Hurriyat faction has held several rounds of separate talks with New Delhi and Islamabad since 2004 to seek a solution to the dispute over the future of the Himalayan state.
The moderate wing said it expected to hold talks with New Delhi after its return from Pakistan, but no dates have been set.
Hard-liners want India to declare Kashmir a “disputed territory” before holding any negotiations. They have criticized the moderates for entering into talks and branded the exercise a “sellout.”
“The people who are not capable or competent to lead any nation go for shortcuts and overlook the sacrifices of people. They then portray themselves as saviors,” Geelani said.
