India urged to take Pakistan’s offer for talks seriously

ISLAMABAD: The Hurriyat Forum, led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in occupied Kashmir, has urged the Indian government to take seriously the repeated dialogue offer of Prime Minister Imran Khan to settle all outstanding issues between the two countries, including the Kashmir dispute.

According to the Kashmir Media Service, the forum issued a statement in Srinagar, saying Kashmiris being the most affected party of the Kashmir dispute for the past over seven decades naturally wanted its resolution.

It said the Hurriyat leadership had been maintaining and reiterating that not force but engagement and dialogue among all stakeholders was the best and most peaceful means of the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

In an interview, the Mirwaiz said the Hurriyat leadership was always ready to engage for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front expressed serious concern over the deteriorating health of its detained chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail. In a statement, it appealed to the international and local human rights organisations to take notice of the matter for necessary action.

On the other hand, Indian police arrested senior journalist Ghulam Jeelani Qadri from his residence in Srinagar late last night. Qadri, who is printer and publisher of Urdu newspaper Daily Aafaq, was arrested by the police in an almost three decades old fake case registered against him. He was later released on bail by a Srinagar court.

Indian police also arrested seven people including two students in Srinagar and Pulwama areas. Indian troops carried out cordon and search operations in downtown areas of Srinagar and in Tral town of Pulwama.