Kashmir’s top separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, in a joint address at Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid on January 4 asked youth “not to get swayed by the Islamic State ideology”. Rajnath made no talks offer: separatistsThe separatist leaders have rebutted Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement made in Parliament on January 3 that “an unconditional dialogue offer was made to separatists in the Valley”. It only created hurdles in ensuring that all the stakeholders, including Pakistan, comes to the table.”He said there was a mismatch in what Mr. Singh said inside Parliament and their policy of no-talks on the ground. Mr. Geelani said the Centre never officially invited them. The sole intention of the Parliamentary delegation (in 2016) was to act as firefighters,” said Mr. Geelani.

Source: The Hindu January 04, 2019 15:56 UTC