Hurriyet leaders in occupied Kashmir in reaction to Indian Foreign Secretary, Ranjan Mathai's recent statement, have said that Jammu and Kashmir was not a part of India and it had, therefore, no right to talk about Kashmir's borders.
The veteran Kashmiri Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani, who is under house arrest, through a telephonic address to a public gathering at Maloora in Srinagar said, if India talks about its own boarders we don't mind, but it can't and it won't be allowed to talk about the borders of Jammu and Kashmir, Kashmir Media Service (KMS) reported.
The veteran leader maintained that Mathai's statement was the reflection of New Delhi's traditional policy. However, he added that such assertions would not change the facts. Raising strong objections to Mathai's statement, the All Parties Hurriyet Conference Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, said that no serious step was ever taken by India to pave way for the settlement of the long pending Kashmir dispute.
Addressing a public gathering in Srinagar, Mirwaiz said that the contradictory statements given by the Indian Ministries of External and Home affairs had betrayed India's non-seriousness about resolving the Kashmir issue. "The Indian government says one thing and does another on ground," he said, adding that it was the time to repeal the black laws including AFSFA and complete demilitarization of Kashmir. Mirwaiz said that people of Kashmir had not made sacrifices for cultural exchanges and trade.
A senior APHC leader, Shabbir Ahmad Shah also rejected the Ranjan's statement and said that cross LoC trade could be a step forward, but Kashmiris had not laid down their lives for trade. Ranjan Mathai in a recent interview in New Delhi had said, India will be happy to start talks towards a deal to keep Kashmir's borders as they are but allow greater trade and movement of people across the Line of Control.