Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who heads the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, sees a link between Srinagar’s grenade attacks on tourists and the Mumbai serial blasts, saying both were aimed to derail the Indo-Pak peace process and create hurdles for a resolution of the Kashmir problem.

“Clearly, the motive of these attacks was to derail the peace process between Indian and Pakistan,” the Mirwaiz told The Indian Express. “There are various agencies in Kashmir, India and Pakistan who don’t want this peace process to move forward.”

He said these attacks were planned as a “conspiracy” and attacks on tourists in Kashmir was “the first part of this heinous plan”.

According to the Mirwaiz, the conspiracy was hatched by extremist elements. “Due to the success of the dialogue process, hardline elements planned these attacks so that the peace process is stalled,” he said.

The Hurriyat chairman said that India and Pakistan should continue with the peace process. “If the process is halted, it will encourage these subversive elements. The peace process should not be a casualty of the blasts,” he said.

Echoing the Mirwaiz was former Chief Minister and PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. He too urged India and Pakistan to “act with great caution and not allow the peace process to get derailed” after the Mumbai train blasts.

“The massacre of innocents in the Mumbai blasts calls for appropriate action against the perpetrators. At the same time any knee-jerk reaction to this reprehensible act, in the larger context of Indo-Pak relations, would offer an opportunity to negative elements, who see the peace process as a threat to their vested interests, to have the last laugh,” Sayeed said.