Srinagar, Aug 8: Back to New Delhi after concluding their Kashmir visit, the Kashmir Committee Wednesday appeared in a “clarification mode” over meeting various political leaders in the Valley, including top level separatists.
 In a statement issued here, the KC spokesperson Madhu Purnima Kishwar said: “On behalf of Kashmir Committee I would like to clarify that our recent visit to Srinagar and our meetings with various political leaders was not aimed at proposing any compromise formula or any particular solution to any of the leaders, as mistakenly reported in several Kashmir papers. That is not our mandate.”
 She said: “I would also like to clarify that neither anybody in the government nor any of the political leaders of Kashmir have authorized us to bring separatist leaders  to come around to accepting the PDP Self Rule document as a starting point for resolution of the Kashmir problem as wrongly reported in several Kashmir papers. This is a total misrepresentation of our mission.”
 Kishwar said the KC visit was “not meant to be a media event. That is why the Kashmir Committee did not hold a press conference or invite the press for an interaction either before or after the visit. However, press reporters were present of their own initiative when we went to meet certain prominent leaders.”
 “Several citizens groups and civil society activists expressed the desire to meet the Kashmir Committee once they got to know that we were visiting the state on August 4 and 5. We met as many as we could take out time for in the two days,” Kishwar claimed.
 On meeting the Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Geelani, Kishwar said, “We began our visit with a meeting with Syed Ali Shah Geelani because we had to discuss various legal cases of Hurriyat leaders being handled by Mr Jethmalani in Delhi courts. The primary purpose of the visit was for Jethmalani to do a site inspection of the area from which the police claimed to have arrested Mohammad Ghulam Bhatt whose case is being argued personally by Jethmalani in Patiala House court.”
 “Political leaders and civil society activists apprised us of the high handed actions of the government in putting prominent leaders under house arrest without any formal warrants or due process. We also received complaints regarding arbitrary denial of passports to Kashmiri citizens by the Home Ministry. Jethmalani promised to follow up on these cases and requested aggrieved individuals including Geelani and Prof. Hamida Nayeem to provide us detailed documents. The Committee is of the view that such needless and arbitrary actions and restrictions add to the frustration, anger and a sense of humiliation of the people of Kashmir,” Kishwar said, adding, “We had extremely fruitful discussions with leaders of the Geelani group of the Hurriyat as well as with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Shabir Shah, Nayeem Khan, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed and a civil society group led by Hamida Nayeem.”
 “During these interactions each leader made concrete suggestions to us regarding the tasks Kashmir Committee needs to undertake in order to create a conducive environment for the peaceful and enduring resolution of the Kashmir problem. But they also expressed deep concern at the radicalization and increasing frustration among Kashmiri youth due to the insensitivity of both the state as well as the central government,” Kishwar said. “We came to hear, understand and take guidance on the course of action we need to follow--not to broker a compromise. We share the anguish of the people of Kashmir against the Government of India's complacent attitude towards the problems and aspirations of Kashmiri people. We also share their disappointment with the national media for paying attention to Kashmir only when anger spills out on the streets. We also agree with them that the national media presents a very prejudiced, ill informed and partisan view of the issues and problems raised by Kashmiris.”
 Kishwar said: “We are of the view that the Government of India will make the nation pay a heavy price for ignoring the seething anger underneath the surface calm. The situation demands consistent engagement with the people and leaders of Kashmir and a pro active peace process with Pakistan in order to find a peaceful, democratic and enduring solution to the Kashmir problem.”

Lastupdate on : Wed, 8 Aug 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 8 Aug 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 9 Aug 2012 00:00:00 IST