Mirwaiz urges Indo-Pak leadership to resolve Kashmir

Srinagar: Moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, who has been put under house arrest, Friday, urged the leadership of India and Pakistan to initiate a "meaningful" and "result-oriented" dialogue to resolve the protracted Kashmir issue "once for all".

Addressing an Eid congregation over phone from his residence at Eidgah in downtown, he said there was no option for both India and Pakistan but to address the Kashmir issue in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Kashmir.

The Mirwaiz, who was put under house arrest last night as a precautionary step, wanted the "leadership of both India and Pakistan to initiate a meaningful and result oriented process to resolve this once and for all and involve the people of the state in this process," a statement issued by the Hurriyat Conference said.

On the raging controversy over the beef ban in the state, he said there was no room for any anti-Muslim law in the Muslim majority state. "Any such court or administrative orders being implemented at the behest of communal forces of India would be met with fierce resistance," he said.

He was referring to a recent High Court order which directed the police to ensure strict implementation of beef ban in the state that has been in force since 1932.

A section of Ranbir Penal Code, a substitute of Indian Penal Code in the state, provides for an imprisonment upto 10 years for voluntary slaughter of any bovine animal such as ox, bull, cow or calf.

It also provides for an imprisonment upto one year if anyone is found in possession of flesh of these animals.

A division bench of Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Janak Raj Kotwal had instructed the police chief to order top police officials of all districts and police stations to ensure there is no sale of beef in the state and stringent action is taken against violators.

The Mirwaiz maintained that Kashmir has remained a symbol of communal bonhomie and said the majority community has protected the rights of minorities and would continue to do so. "But nobody would be allowed to play with the religious sentiments and Islamic character of Kashmir at any cost under the garb of courts to ban beef in the state.

"All such moves are aimed to weaken the Islamic character of the state," he said and read out a resolution of Mutahida Majils Ulema, the highest religious body, which termed the order as "direct intervention" in the religious affairs of Muslims.

The resolution has also asked the state government led by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed to come clear on its "mysterious silence on the issue".