Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin has laid down three conditions he wants the Centre to fulfil if it wants to initiate a dialogue to resolve the unrest in Jammu and Kashmir, the Greater Kashmir reported on Friday.
He said New Delhi should accept that Kashmir is a disputed territory, recognise that there are three parties to the dispute, and attempt to resolve the crisis “in light of the UN resolutions as per the aspirations of the people of Kashmir”.
If the Centre agrees to these three conditions, the United Jehad Council – an organisation of local militant outfits – will support the Hurriyat leadership, Salahuddin said at a press conference in Muzaffarabad.
Rejecting former Intelligence Bureau director Dineshwar Sharma’s appointment as the Indian government’s interlocutor on Kashmir, the militant said that had India been sincere about resolving the conflict, it would have appointed a politician.
The Narendra Modi government appointed the former intelligence officer to the role to show to United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that New Delhi was speaking to Kashmiris, Salahuddin was quoted as saying by Rising Kashmir.
A tripartite talk involving India, Pakistan and Kashmiris can lead a resolution, he added.
The militant leader also dismissed the National Investigation Agency’s charges against his son Syed Shahid Yusuf, who was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly donating Rs 4 lakh to the Hizbul Mujahideen in 2011. “It is totally baseless,” Salahuddin said. “For the past 29 years, I have not been in contact with my family.”
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