Centre Like 'Chameleon', Says Sena, Criticising Hurriyat Stand

New Delhi: The Centre is like a "chameleon", the Shiv Sena said today in a new attack after union minister VK Singh's statement in Parliament that there is no bar on Kashmiri separatists meeting with the Pakistani envoy.

"The Hurriyat is a separatist group which is pro-Pakistan and anti-India. But now Centre is making them sit on their lap and is taking care of them. The Centre has adopted a foolish position which even the Congress did not by allowing the Hurriyat to discuss Kashmir with Pakistan," the Sena said in a blistering editorial in its mouthpiece Saamna.

Last week, Union Minister of State for Foreign Affairs VK Singh had said in Parliament: "Since the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the Union of India and these so called Kashmiri 'leaders' are Indian citizens. There is no bar on their meetings with representatives of any country in India. However, India has consistently maintained that there is no role for a third party in the bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan."

The government had been asked to respond to the meetings between Kashmiri separatists and the Pakistan High Commissioner to India, which was the trigger for the cancellation of talks between India and Pakistan twice.

Welcoming what was read by some as a more pragmatic view, the Hurriyat said the Centre had realized that "red lines do not work in politics or diplomacy".

The Sena strongly criticized what it called a major u-turn.

"Must learn from politicians how chameleons change their colour. The way the Centre has made u-turns on the Hurriyat and Kashmir, had Congress done that, BJP would have called them 'Agents of Pakistan'. They would have stalled Parliament in the name of 'national security'," the article said, sarcastically adding, "The change in colours would even embarrass a chameleon."

The editorial also demanded the Centre to "divulge any secret understanding they have with the Hurriyat."

"Has the Centre accepted that Hurriyat is also a "party" in the Kashmir issue? Tomorrow they will discuss the Kashmir issue with Masood Azhar, Dawood Ibrahim and Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi too. Centre's u-turn on Hurriyat is as good as them saying the Ram Temple Ayodhya was Babri Masjid," the Sena's mouthpiece said.