New Delhi Slams the Door on Talks With Moderate Kashmiri Separatists

On March 11, the Indian government imposed a five-year ban on the Jammu and Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen (JKIM) and the Awami Action Committee (AAC) for “promoting and aiding the secession of Jammu and Kashmir from India” through “anti-national and subversive activities.” The now-banned groups are accused of “sowing seeds of discontent among the people; inciting people to destabilize law and order; supporting terrorism and promoting hatred against the established Government.”

Both organizations are part of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), an umbrella grouping of political separatists formed in 1993. While the JKIM was set up in 1962, the AAC was founded in 1964 by Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq Shah, who was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in 1990. His son, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has headed the AAC for 35 years and is currently chairman of the APHC.

The ban, which was imposed under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, has been widely criticized in Kashmir. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah distanced himself from the decision. “The Center did not share any intelligence input with me before imposing the ban,” he said.

Slamming the ban, Mehbooba Mufti, former chief minister and chief of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party pointed out that “suppressing dissent will only deepen tensions rather than resolve them.”

In a post on X, Farooq pointed out that the AAC had advocated for Kashmiri “aspirations and rights through completely non-violent and democratic methods and calling for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir conflict through dialogue and deliberation.” The ban “seems part of the continuation of the policy of intimidation and disempowerment that is being followed vis a vis Jammu & Kashmir since August 2019,” he said.

Farooq was referring to the brutal crackdown on Kashmiris following the Modi government’s decision on August 5, 2019, to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) autonomy and statehood. Kashmiri political leaders and activists were jailed or detained en masse and the internet was shut down for months on end. For almost five years, political and democratic processes in J&K were suspended.

Then in 2024, parliamentary elections were held in J&K as in the rest of India. Assembly elections followed a few months later, which resulted in the National Conference, J&K’s largest mainstream political party, forming the new government. Although the J&K government is largely powerless – as a union territory it is under New Delhi’s direct control and exercises limited power – the developments were widely hailed as steps, albeit long overdue and small, in reviving democracy in the region.

There were other positive developments in recent months. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abdullah seemed willing to avoid a confrontationist approach.

An initiative to bring about reconciliation between Kashmir’s Muslim majority and Pandits, Hindus from the Kashmir valley, was set in motion. The Pandits, who were forced to leave the valley in 1990 amid rising Islamist violence, have been languishing in migrant camps in Jammu and Delhi. With a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits of the J&K Peace Forum approaching Farooq to lead the reconciliation effort to facilitate “the safe return of Kashmiri Pandits to their ancestral homes,” the ball was set rolling. Farooq began engaging with representatives of the Kashmiri Pandit community in New Delhi.

In a notable softening in New Delhi’s stance toward Farooq, the Hurriyat chairman was invited to discuss the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which India’s Muslim community opposes, with the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf Board in New Delhi.

These developments raised speculation about a potential backchannel dialogue between the Modi government and Kashmir’s separatist leadership. The last time Farooq engaged with Delhi was in 2004, when Atal Behari Vajpayee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was prime minister.

Recent developments were therefore widely seen as a marking a shift in both Srinagar and Delhi.

However, within weeks of the change in New Delhi’s stance, the JKIM and the AAC were banned and Farooq was disallowed from delivering his customary sermon during the Friday prayers at Srinagar’s Jama Masjid. That the widely revered Farooq was prevented from leading Friday prayers during Ramadan would have irked Kashmiri Muslims.

Little is known about the sudden change in the Modi government’s mood and the reason for its slamming the door shut on an opportunity for talks with the separatist leadership. One can only surmise that Farooq may not have been willing to toe New Delhi’s line.

Farooq is more than just the leader of the AAC and the APHC. He is Kashmir’s chief cleric. The Mirwaiz family is revered in Kashmir for being the custodian of the Jama Masjid, Kashmir’s largest and most influential mosque in downtown Srinagar. Importantly, Farooq is a moderate separatist, who has long espoused peaceful means and dialogue to resolve the conflict. Indeed, years ago, he parted ways with the hardline separatists in the APHC, leading to a split in the separatist grouping.

Given his moderation and following among the Kashmiri people, he is perhaps New Delhi’s best bet for talks and a solution to the long-festering conflict.

New Delhi’s decision to ban the AAC and JKIM is therefore a blunder. After having conducted a successful election in J&K and with a Kashmiri political party heading the J&K government, an opportunity had opened up for reviving the dialogue process.

New Delhi has shut down that opportunity before it fully took root.

It is a pity that after taking one step forward in meeting Kashmiri demands by holding assembly elections, the Modi government has moved two steps back by banning the AAC and JKIM.