SRINAGAR: Moderate Hurriyat faction headed by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq will meet here on Monday to frame a response to the eight-point initiative announced by the Centre for normalising the situation in Kashmir valley.
“We have convened a meeting of the executive and general council tomorrow wherein the announcement made by the government will be discussed threadbare before a formal response is made,” Mirwaiz told PTI.
However, sources close to Mirwaiz said the official response is likely to be a “guarded one”.
Under the eight-point initiative, a group of interlocutors is being appointed to hold a “sustained dialogue” with various shades of opinion, about 200 youth detained for stone-pelting are being released and the presence of security personnel is being de-scaled.
The JKLF headed by Mohammad Yasin Malik is also scheduled to meet to discuss the Centre’s initiative but has not fixed a date.
“Some of our members are not able to make it here due to the curfew. Once the full quorum is present, the issue will be discussed and responded to,” Malik said.
Hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani has already rejected the measures describing it as a “mere eyewash” and “delaying tactics”.
With educational institutions all set to reopen on Monday in Kashmir valley, Geelani on Sunday asked parents not to send their wards to schools and colleges.
“No right thinking person can deny the importance of education in society, but to think that they (government) are concerned about the future of our children is like a mad man’s dream,” Geelani said in a statement here.
The Hurriyat hawk alleged most of the youths killed in the ongoing unrest in the valley were students.
Many more were injured and hundreds were languishing in jails, he further alleged.
Geelani appealed to people to strictly observe civil curfew on Monday when schools and colleges would resume their normal functioning in the valley.
The separatist leader also appealed to teachers and the non-teaching staff to stay at home.
Education system has suffered immense damage during the ongoing unrest and imposition of curfew in Kashmir.
