Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday welcomed the decision of two more separatist groups affiliated with the Hurriyat — J-K Tahreeqi Isteqlal and J-K Tahreek-I-Istiqamat — to discard separatism and repose their trust in the new Bharat built by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a post on X platform, he said under the Modi government, separatism is breathing its last, and the triumph of unity is echoing across Kashmir.
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Shah wrote on X “Two more groups affiliated with the Hurriyat, namely J&K Tahreeqi Isteqlal and J&K Tahreek-I-Istiqamat, have discarded separatism and reposed their trust in the new Bharat built by PM Shri @narendramodi Ji. Under the Modi government, separatism is breathing its last, and the triumph of unity is echoing across Kashmir”.
The process of disintegration of the once most powerful All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), which was controlled by Pakistan backed separatists, started last year and is still continuing.
The two constituents of the APHC disassociated from the separatist amalgam, declaring it has failed to live up to the expectations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Ghulam Nabi Sofi, chief of Jammu and Kashmir Tehreek-i-Istiqlal (the movement for independence) while announcing its formal disassociation from the APHC or any other group pursuing the similar ideology said: “We continued our struggle despite all odds but neither APHC (Geelani) nor APHC (Mirwaiz) has been able to live up to the expectations of the common masses. They failed at every step to represent the people’s aspirations and sentiments”.
In a statement, Sofi added, “I have long before severed my ties with separatist ideology and today I officially denounce it. I am a true and committed citizen of India and believe in the Indian Constitution.”
Mohammad Sharief Sartaj, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Movement (JKFM), also announced his dissociation from the APHC and other separatist groups and leaders earlier. Strongly opposing the ideology of the APHC, he said it has failed to address the aspirations and grievances of the people of J&K.
Calling himself a committed citizen of India, Sartaj who is based in Jammu, pledged to dedicate himself to upholding the national integrity. He also announced the disbandment of the JKFM.
Earlier on Tuesday, Home Minister Amit Shah had termed the breaking off ties with separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) by two political outfits – Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Movement (JKDM) and Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement- as a “victory” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “vision” and urged other constituents of the amalgam to shun separatism and come forward to strengthen the country’s unity.
“Separatism has become history in Kashmir. The unifying policies of the Modi government have tossed separatism out of J&K,” Shah claimed in a post on ‘X’.
Welcoming the two outfits’ severing their ties with separatism, the Home Minister had said that it was a step towards strengthening India’s unity.
He had urged all such groups to “come forward and shed separatism once and for all” and asserted, “It is a big victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji’s vision of building a developed, peaceful and unified Bharat.”
Syed Salim Gilani, a former functionary of the Hurriyat Conference, had last year quit the separatist camp to join mainstream politics.
