Moderate Hurriyat to deliberate on Centre's package tomorrow

Moderate Hurriyat faction headed by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq will meet here tomorrow to frame a response to the eight-point initiative announced by the Centre for normalising the situation in Kashmir Valley.

"We have convened a meeting of the executive and general
council tomorrow wherein the announcement made by the government will be discussed threadbare before a formal response is made," Mirwaiz told PTI.

However, sources close to Mirwaiz said the official response is likely to be a "guarded one".

Under the 8-point initiative, a group of interlocutors is being appointed to hold a "sustained dialogue" with various shades of opinion, about 200 youth detained for stone-pelting are being released and the presence of security personnel is being de-scaled.

Meanwhile, the JKLF headed by Mohammad Yasin Malik is also scheduled to meet to discuss the Centre's initiative but has not fixed a date.

"Some of our members are not able to make it here due to the curfew. Once the full quorum is present, the issue will be discussed and responded to," Malik said. 

Hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani has already rejected the measures describing it as a "mere eye-wash" and "delaying tactics".