Mehbooba should have released Hurriyat leaders: Omar

Srinagar, Sep 4: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti should have released the Hurriyat leaders if she was serious about talks but she "was not clear in her own head" about the way forward, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah has said after she invited the separatists to meet the all-party delegation.

"As CM she arrests them (separatists) and as @jkpdp president she invites them to talk and then we wonder why Kashmir burns!!!!

"When the CM of J-K isn't clear in her own head about the way forward how do we expect her government to react and act as a cohesive unit?" Omar said in a series of tweets late last night.

Mehbooba, in her capacity as PDP president, yesterday, wrote letters to top separatist leaders seeking their cooperation in the peaceful resolution of the issue of Jammu and Kashmir by engaging with the all-party delegation that arrived here today.

However, Omar, the former chief minister, said instead of releasing the letter to the media, Mehbooba should have released the separatists who are under detention.

"Instead of releasing her letter to the press @MehboobaMufti should have released the detained Hurriyat leaders if she was serious about talks," the NC working President said.

He said even as some of the separatist leaders were in jail, the chief minister asked them to suggest time and place to meet the delegation.

"Mirwaiz (Umar Farooq) is in a Government sub-jail, Yasin (Malik) is in central jail, others are spread in various prisons and she asks them to suggest the time & place!!!" Omar said.

Taking a jibe, the former chief minister said Mehbooba should instead furnish a list of the jails where the separatists were lodged and notify the visiting hours to the delegation to allow them to meet the separatists.

"She should just give a list of the prisons used and the official visiting hours to the delegation and allow them to visit the detainees," Omar said.

PTI