Hurriyat Conference today accused the NDA Government of ‘‘playing with’’ a sensitive issue like Kashmir for petty interests and ‘‘shying away’’ from a dialogue process to resolve it.‘‘The BJP-led Government at the Centre, for its petty and vested interest of staying in power, is playing around with a sensitive issue like Kashmir,’’ senior Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq told an Id prayer gathering at the Jamia Masjid here. Militants spoil Id in Pampore, kill one policeman, injure another four PAMPORE: As this village was busy in Id celebrations here, militants blew up a police vehicle killing a local policeman and injuring four others. The policemen were out on duty to provide security to a senior PDP leader, who was scheduled to visit slain PDP MLA Abdul Aziz Mir’s family. Pampore constituency is going for bypolls on February 26 following Mir’s assasination last year by militants. The party has fielded Mir’s son to contest the bypoll. This election is seen as a litmus test for Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s three month old government. ‘The militants detonated an IED planted on a turn. They blew up the last vehicle. It was a bullet proof vehicle and the blast was so strong that it threw the vehicle at least 40 feet off the road,’’ said Vijay Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Awantipore. The slain policeman identified as Ajaz Ahmed was a resident of a neighbouring village Fresal. (ENS) The Centre’s recent steps like suspension of his passport and closure of the Hurriyat’s Delhi office ‘‘were just a pretext to shy away from talks to resolve the Kashmir dispute,’’ he said. Farooq’s remarks assume significance in the context of the arrest of two Hurriyat leaders in Delhi on the charge of accepting money from the Pakistan High Commission for giving it to Hurriyat chief Abdul Ghani Bhat.Despite claims, especially of Army officials, that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is improving, ‘‘Why is the Government not starting talks to resolve the issue?’’ Farooq asked. ‘‘The constant refusal to start a dialogue process proves that this Government is not serious about Kashmir,’’ he added.The Hurriyat leader said the 25-party amalgam is in favour of peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue. ‘‘If Kashmir issue is not resolved peacefully between India and Pakistan, there is always a chance of a disastrous war breaking out in the sub-continent,’’ he said.Farooq asked political parties and the people to put pressure on the Government to start a dialogue with the separatists to resolve the Kashmir issue in the interest of the country.
