The renewal of Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq’s passport is under process, government said on Wednesday, rejecting the allegation by the separatist amalgam that the travel document was being withheld amid reports he had met (LeT) Chief Hafeez Saeed in Pakistan.
Sources in the Government said Mirwaiz had applied for the travel document only in the first week of January and the papers were being processed on a routine basis.
The moderate faction of the Hurriyat said the decision to “withhold” the passport has prevented Mirwaiz from attending the 12th OIC summit that is underway in Cairo.
Government had taken a serious view of the amalgam leadership’s meeting with Saeed, the Lashker-e-Taiba chief who is the most wanted terrorist for the Mumbai attack and other terror related activities, during their visit to Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in December last year.
Sources in the Union Home Ministry said details of the passport of the Mirwaiz were yet to come for clearance as the travel document is released only after getting a nod from the state CID and central security agencies.
The Mirwaiz had mentioned about his plans to visit Cairo, Geneva and Dubai while requesting for an early renewal of passport that expired on February two this year.
The Hurriyat Conference, meanwhile, said in a statement “it was highly regretful that the Mirwaiz could not attend the summit as travel documents were held back by the authorities for reasons known to them.”
By restricting the Hurriyat’s political and diplomatic activities, the government has once again resorted to “undemocratic measures by putting embargo on the freedom of speech of people and groups”, an amalgam spokesman said in a statement.