Mirwaiz a glorified errand boy of India and Pakistan: Lone

Srinagar, May 11 (PTI) Reflecting an open split in the
ranks of separatists in India's northern most state of Jammu
and Kashmir, Sajjad Lone has lashed out at the Hurriyat
Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq describing him as a
"glorified errand boy" of India and Pakistan.

Lone, a separatist leader who has broken away from
Hurriyat to contest the current Lok Sabha elections from
Baramulla constituency, accused the Mirwaiz of doing "more
damage to Kashmiris than anybody else".

41-year-old Lone, son of former separatist stalwart
Abdul Ghani Lone who was killed by Hizbul Mujahideen four
years ago, criticised the Hurriyat Chairman for reversing
the decision not not to call for a boycott of the election.

"He has a history of U-turns. He doesn't know what he is
talking about. I don't see him as a separatist or a
pro-movement leader," Lone told NDTV here.

"He is a glorified errand boy of India and Pakistan. He
is a glorified errand boy, nothing else."

Lone wanted "saner voices" like Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat,
Yaseen Malik, his brother Bilal Lone or Maulana Abbas Ansari,"
to come up and take over" the Hurriyat.

He pointed out that he had been very vociferous in
calling for a boycott of the state Assembly polls in
November-December but 75 per cent of people in Kupwara, which
was his stronghold, had voted. This was a "defeat for me
personally", he said.

He had, therefore, chosen to contest the Lok Sabha
elections because the "disconnect between people and leaders
cannot be aggravated to the point you do not know each other."

Asked if he feared for his safety during the
campaigning, Lone said that he was campaigning in the open
till late in the day in places where there is no electricity.
He did not worry.

However, at the same time he thinks of his young
children who he does not want to grow up as orphans.

"But then life and death are in the hands of Allah, not
not gunmen," he added. PTI VSC
DEP
NNNN