India should accept disputed nature of Kashmir, says Hurriyat leader

Chairman of hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani today said if India wants to win confidence of youth of Kashmir it should accept the "disputed nature" of Kashmir.

Reacting to the statement of the Congress president Sonia Gandhi that people of the state are "our very own and their sufferings is ours", he said, "If Soniaji wants to win the confidence of the youth of Kashmir, she should accept the disputed nature of Kashmir and announce a schedule for withdrawal of Indian troops from the valley."

Addressing the funeral procession of Mudassir Nazar who succumbed in a hospital this morning after being injured in
CRPF firing in Sopore last evening, Geelani said over phone that she (Gandhi) did not utter a word about the killing of youth in Kashmir.