Separatists are to PDP what RSS is to BJP,says Malik

“(Kashmir) Movement is the RSS and PDP is its BJP,” Malik said,adding that “the party (PDP) had come to power on separatist votes”. While his comments suggested there was a tacit understanding between the Hurriyat hardliners and the PDP,Malik didn’t stop there. He said 90 per cent of the “freedom fighters have taken money from former RAW chief Dullat”.

The militant-turned-separatist leader said Kashmir could not secure freedom without external support. “We just think within four walls of the mountain. Will this thinking help us reach any goal?” he asked. “We can’t win this battle in isolation. We can’t throw seven lakh troops out of Kashmir. My movement will be successful when we have support from outside Kashmir”.

In response,Hurriyat hardliner Geelani rejected Malik’s idea of an independent Kashmir. “Yasin Sahib,you didn’t complete the sentence. Tell them you want secular independence,” Geelani replied. “Now,some leader has said that they don’t want Indian secularism but British secularism. I want to tell them that whether it is British secularism or Russian secularism,it will not be acceptable to the Muslims”.

The Hurriyat hardliner reiterated his stand saying dialogue with India is possible only if accepts Kashmir as a disputed territory. “I won’t be part of any futile dialogue process,” Geelani said. “India has to meet our conditions and then start unconditional tripartite dialogue”.

Meanwhile,days after Hurriyat leader,Prof Abdul Gani Bhat created ripples in the separatist circles saying they were ready to sit together with the mainstream political parties; the Hurriyat moderates on Saturday took a U-turn saying they can’t sit with “Indian political parties”. The moderates also rejected the “quiet diplomacy”.

“We can’t sit with Indian political parties like the National Conference of PDP,” moderate Hurriyat leader,Shabir Ahmad Shah said. “We have rejected the quiet diplomacy. We are with the Hurriyat’s constitution which demands right to self determination. Any solution within the Indian Constitution is unacceptable. There can be no sell-out on Kashmir”.

The Hurriyat moderate,who was recently released after spending 15 months in jail,toed the line of Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani and called for the unity of the Hurriyat factions. “Let’s iron-out differences and unite. If people are deviating,they can be prevailed upon,” he said.