The Hurriyat Conference Executive Council, highest policy-making body of the separatist conglomerate, will meet in Srinagar, on Saturday, to discuss its strategy in view of non-issuance of passports to three of the five members nominated to visit Pakistan. The Hurriyat had announced sending a five-member delegation to Pakistan on January 15 to hold talks with the establishment and militant leaders there.
However, the plan failed to take off as three of them --Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Sheikh Abdul Aziz and Maulana Abbas Ansari -- were not issued passports by the government. Geelani, considered a hardliner, is unlikely to attend the meeting of the seven-member Executive Council as he is undergoing treatment in New Delhi.
Yaseen Malik, who also was in Delhi, returned to Srinagar on Friday.
When contacted, Hurriyat Conference Chairman Abdul Ghani Bhat said, “There are many things to be discussed in view of developments taking place.”
Bureau Report