On Rajnath’s statement: Unconditional talks were never offered: Mirwaiz

Srinagar, Jan 4: Hurriyat (M) Chairman and one of the three leaders of the Joint Hurriyat amalgam, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Friday said that there was never an offer of “unconditional talks” from Government of India, and Home Minister Rajnath Singh claiming so was aimed “to discredit resistance leadership”.
Mirwaiz was reacting to Rajnath’s statement on Thursday, in which he said that Hurriyat leaders shut door on India’s “unconditional talks” offer.
“To put the record straight, the truth, as all of Kashmir knows, is that there never was any offer of ‘unconditional talk’ at any point by this Govt, on the contrary all effort by this Govt has been towards a military solution with the view to integrate Kashmir and even do away with its special status,” Mirwaiz wrote on his Twitter handle.
The other part of Mirwaiz’s tweet read: Hurriyat has always maintained that the way forward is through sincere deliberations among the stakeholders India, Pak & people of Kashmir working towards a final settlement in keeping with the aspirations of the people of J&K.
Speaking in Rajya Sabha, Rajnath had said: “It was perceived that the BJP was not willing to talk to Hurriyat leaders and for this reason, there was a moment of status quo in the situation. We asked all-party delegation to go and talk to them (Hurriyat leaders). When they (delegation) went, they (Hurriyat leaders) closed their doors.”
He further said that if Hurriyat leaders had talked then, perhaps some ways would have opened. “I told then CM Mehbooba Mufti that if they want to talk to us then we are ready to talk to them. Our doors are open, unconditional,” Rajnath has said.
Mirwaiz, however, welcomed the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan statement that Kashmir problem has to be resolved peacefully.
He said that BJP leader, Yashwant Sinha, has also admitted that Government of India (GoI) has been using force to suppress the voices of Kashmiris.