PoK-based UJC reacts strongly to Mirwaiz's remarks

Srinagar, May 9: The Muzaffarabad-based United Jehad Council (UJC), an umbrella organisation of several militant groups active in Jammu and Kashmir, has termed as a ''futile exercise'' the talks between the Centre and the moderate Hurriyat Conference.

The UJC has also reacted sharply to moderate Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq's statement at the end of the second round of talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on May 3 in which he said that a mechanism would be devised whereby the militant leadership would be engaged in future negotiations with India.

''The politicians (Hurriyat leaders) who have pinned hopes on Delhi Darbar for resolution of the Kashmir issue are wasting their time,'' UJC spokesman Syed Sadakat Hussain said in a faxed statement to the local media here from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

''These people have not learnt a lesson from the dialogue process of past 56 years. It is nothing but wastage of time. Had their conscience been alive they would not have wasted time in futile talks at a time when the Indian Army is committing atrocities and forcibly occupying agricultural land in Kashmir,'' he alleged.

The UJC spokesman claimed that the Army had occupied land at Awantipora and Pulwama in south Kashmir and in Baramulla district to ''strengthen the Indian occupation''.

''To connect the Northern Headquarters with Uri, a railway line is also being laid. Gulmarg, Pahalgam and other tourist spots are being leased to weaken Kashmir's economy, sexual depravity is flourishing under the state patronage,'' he alleged.

The UJC spokesman said there was no change on the ground despite the ''so-called'' peace process.

''We want to ask the leaders engaged in talks with India that what have the past 130 meetings yielded? They are becoming a tool of the Indian politicians. The militant leadership wants to make it clear them that their futile exercise would yield nothing. If they are tired of freedom struggle and want to live a lavish life, they should part ways,'' he said.

UNI