As Amit Shah arrives in Kashmir, three more separatists quit Hurriyat, pledge allegiance to Constitution

Senior separatist leaders in Kashmir renounce separatism, pledge allegiance to India, distancing from Hurriyat factions amid Amit Shah's visit.

Amid the arrival of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the Kashmir Valley, three senior separatist leaders — Mohammad Yousuf Naqash, Hakeem Abdul Rashid and Bashir Ahmad Andrabi — publicly renounced separatism and distanced themselves from Hurriyat factions on Monday.

All three leaders were affiliates of the Hurriyat faction headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Mr. Naqash headed the Islamic Political Party J&K; Mr. Rashid was the chairman of the Muslim Democratic League J&K; and Mr. Andrabi headed Kashmir Freedom Front.

In separate but similarly worded statements, these leaders announced allegiance to the Constitution of India and denounced association with separatist agendas.

“...my organization and I have no connection or affiliation whatsoever with APHC(G), APHC(A), their members, or any other entity pursuing separatist agendas. We firmly disassociate ourselves from the ideology of APHC, as it has failed to address the aspirations and grievances of people in Jammu and Kashmir effectively,” they said in the statements.

The APHC stands for All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), which came into being in 1993 in the wake of raging militancy in Kashmir and sought resolution of the Kashmir issue as per the resolutions of the United Nations (UN). The APHC started as a conglomerate of over 20 political, religious, traders and civil society bodies.

“Any use of my name or that of my organization in connection with APHC or its factions will be met with legal consequences on our part. I am a loyal citizen of India, and both my organization and I owe allegiance to the Constitution of India,” the statements said. “We do not affiliate with any group or association that acts against Indian interests directly or indirectly,” they added.

There has been a series of such public renunciation of separatism by separatist leaders in the past one month in Kashmir. It’s for the first time since militancy broke out in 1990 that separatists issued such statements.