J&K govt blames Mirwaiz for violence in Kashmir on Eid

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir government on Saturday accused the chairman of moderate Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umer Farooq of not sticking to assurances made by his close aide to the administration that the march to Lal Chowk planned for the day would be peaceful.


Highly-placed sources said the Mirwaiz's close aide, Shahid-ul-Islam, called a senior official in the chief minister's office requesting permission for a march to Lal Chowk.


Islam, a former chief of terrorist group Hizbullah, requested for "political space" and assured the official that his activists would ensure peaceful dispersing of the crowd that would gather at Lal Chowk.


The Mirwaiz aide reasoned out that the march was a political necessity for them as the space for separatists in the Valley was shrinking fast, the sources said.


Based on Islam's request, state chief minister Omar Abdullah overruled the suggestions of security agencies and politicians that the separatists march should not be allowed and gave permission for the march to Lal Chowk, the sources said.


However, as the mob in Lal Chowk started turning hostile, the Mirwaiz and his aides quickly disappeared from the scene.


Read more: J&K govt blames Mirwaiz for violence in Kashmir on Eid - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/JK-govt-blames-Mirwaiz-for-violence-in-Kashmir-on-Eid/articleshow/6536873.cms#ixzz0zEzFjZks