Welcoming PM’s rail initiative, Mehbooba, Mirwaiz demand prisoners’ release, dialogue on Kashmir

PDP president and Hurriyat chairman demand confidence-building measures and release of political prisoners in Kashmir.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti and Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday (June 6, 2025) welcomed the rail initiatives inaugurated in Jammu and Kashmir but demanded confidence-building measures by releasing youth and initiating a dialogue on Kashmir.  

“If the Prime Minister truly seeks to reduce the ‘dil ki doori’ (distance of hearts) which he often mentions in his speeches, then humanitarian steps are the real way forward. Train links are welcome, but it is the human links that truly matter and endure,” the Mirwaiz said, while delivering his sermon at the Jama Masjid in Srinagar.

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He appealed to the Government of India to release political prisoners as “a goodwill gesture”.

“Thousands of families are in sorrow on Id. Their sons, husbands, fathers and brothers have been incarcerated for years — many without trial — in jails within and outside Jammu and Kashmir. And with each passing day, more of our youth are detained,” the Mirwaiz said.

Meanwhile, the Mirwaiz condemned the inhuman killing of 30-year-old Zubair Bhat of Ali Kadal, Srinagar, who was working in New Delhi. 

“Zubair’s custodial-like death, allegedly at the hands of the Delhi police as claimed by his family, has brought back haunting memories of such deaths and raised serious concerns regarding the safety and security of Kashmiris residing or working in different parts of India,” he said.