“But he refused to meet and talk to the parliamentarians and told them that they are part of larger delegation and were being headed by Indian home minister who before coming to Kashmir has categorically said that India parliamentarian delegation will meet and talk to people under the preview of Indian Constitution”, the spokesman said. A spokesman of JKLF told local Kashmiri media that the Indian delegation was taken directly to the room in which Yasin Malik is kept by Police.
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“This is a futile exercise”. Abdul Gani Butt and Shabir Ahmed Shah met them briefly but refused to talk on Kashmir or the prevailing situation.
“I am not Kashmiri because of Article 370”.
After Mr. Owaisi’s failed attempt, the group comprising Mr. Yechury, Mr. Yadav, Mr. Raja and Mr. Narayan went to meet the Mirwaiz but could not meet him. Nothing concrete will happen until or unless India talks to Pakistan on Kashmir. Mr Bhat said: “We gave them the respect they deserved but we did not talk to them”.
Separatists refused to engage in any dialogue with the members of the all party delegation who tried to break ice by calling on them on Sunday.
The delegation had come here to cool the volatile situation arising out of violent protests that have gripped the Valley since the killing of Hizbul militant Burhan Wani on July 8. The clashes resulting from the protests have claimed 71 lives and injured thousands.
A day after Mehbooba invited separatists in her capacity as PDP chief, separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (both of separate Hurriyat Conference factions) and Yasin Malik (of JKLF) issued a joint statement here, rubbishing her and her offer. These methods of “crisis management through Parliamentary Delegations and Track-Two. can’t take the place of a genuine transparent agenda-based dialogue to address the core issue.”, they said ” That has been our consistent stand and has been spelled out recently as well in our letters to various worldwide and global fora”, they said.
Mirwaiz was cold to Owaisi, saying the Hurriyat had already decided not to meet the MPs who had come with Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
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The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said the Hurriyat leaders would be isolated if they did not participate in the peace process of Kashmir by holding talks with the all-party delegation as all other parties would collaborate on the issue.
