Hurriyat ‘non-functional’, Kashmiris must move on, find place for themselves within India: Bilal Lone

Former separatist leader Bilal Gani Lone blamed the Hurriyat Conference and Pakistan for their failures in Kashmir, calling Hurriyat “non-functional.” Shifting to mainstream politics, he urged Kashmir’s youth to embrace reality and work within India’s democratic framework for progress

Srinagar: Former separatist leader Bilal Gani Lone has held the Hurriyat Conference responsible for its own irrelevance, calling the separatist conglomerate “non-functional”, while also slamming Pakistan for creating a “mess” and “fissures” in Jammu and Kashmir.

The comments of Lone mark a significant departure from traditional separatist rhetoric, acknowledging that both the Hurriyat and Pakistan had “faltered” on opportunities to bring progress to the region.

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The next generation is the primary motivation for Lone’s shift to mainstream politics, as he urged the younger generation to accept the reality that India is “too big a power” to fight and advised them not to see the country through the lens of political parties but to “see India as India” to find a space for themselves within the country.

He said the present generation has to be told the truth about the last 35 years, as they have “no other option” but to enter this new political sphere because “the politics of exploitation has to stop”. Talking exclusively to PTI Videos, Lone asserted that the Hurriyat Conference, a separatist conglomerate formed in 1993, has lost its relevance in the Valley.

“Hurriyat is no more relevant as of this date. Hurriyat functional bhi nahi hai (Hurriyat is not even functional),” he said, adding, “let’s be honest about it… when you talk about Hurriyat as on date, it’s not present anywhere in Kashmir.” While acknowledging that people had reposed their trust in the Hurriyat in the past, Lone said the current reality was different.

“Hurriyat conference has lost relevance because we could not act,” he said, adding, “so the concept of Hurriyat may have been good at that time… but when we visualise Hurriyat today, it is non-functional and somewhere, Hurriyat has faltered, no doubt about that.” Lone was equally critical of Pakistan’s role and said, “We have heard many statements but nothing has come out (of it)”, and added that “Pakistan should help Kashmir in soothing things here, rather than creating fissures out here”.

He dismissed the idea that Pakistan would ever “get” Kashmir through force, calling it a “very silly suggestion”. To illustrate his point, Lone cited a recent escalation of tensions along the border that saw a 48-hour war-like situation. “Not even an inch moved at the border,” he said.

Lone said that Kashmiris must now move on. “We need to come out of this mess, whether it is with or without Pakistan, we have to come out of this,” he stated.

He expressed a deep sense of regret over the separatist movement’s failures, saying, “The Hurriyat Conference had got a lot of opportunities, we faltered somewhere. And we could have got something for our people, but we couldn’t. That’s the reality, let’s be honest about it.” In a candid admission of past failures, Lone said his shift towards mainstream politics is born not out of political expediency, but a personal conviction to pursue a “genuine political process”.

Reflecting on his journey, Lone said, “I have no regrets being on the other side of the fence, but the only regret, which is a very big one, is that we could not do anything. Much could have been done, but we could not”, and summarised his change of heart with a Hindi adage: “dair aaye durust aaye (better late than never).” Addressing his move from separatist to mainstream politics, Lone said he is not in the race for any position like a Chief Minister or MLA, but is instead motivated by a desire to pay back his people. “I think I need to pay it back. So for me, it is a payback time,” he said.