Mixed reaction to Amarnath Accord

The joint co-ordination committee of the moderate and hard-line separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference on Sunday rejected the state government-Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti (AYSS) agreement on the shrine board land row.

In a statement, a spokesman of the coordination committee said, "We outrightly reject the agreement. Our objective is complete independence. We will soon announce the Lal Chowk march date."

Former state chief minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah, however, welcomed the state government's peace plan saying "no one should have any objection to it."

People's Democratic Party (PDP) president, Mehbooba Mufti Sunday rejected the proposal, saying that "the unilateral decision on land use for Amarnath yatra is a move to disrespect the popular sentiments in Kashmir."

The PDP president said, "Any decision on this sensitive matter should have been taken only with consensus and after consultation with the Kashmir coordination committee and civil society here."

"Kashmiris have welcomed and taken due care of the yatris for ages and we would continue to do so in future as well." 

She said, "The solution arrived at with the AYSS in Jammu is not a Jammu and Kashmir peace formula as is being presented, but a purely Jammu appeasement policy which will only further increase the alienation of Kashmiris, where the popular sentiments and just aspirations are being throttled with brute force."