The internal strife in the so-called moderate faction of the separatist Hurriyat Conference alliance, headed by Kashmir’s chief Muslim cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, is getting murkier by the day. As the leaders chose to wash their dirty linen in public during the past few days, the activists owing allegiance to the competitors within the high-power executive council of the amalgam on Tuesday went a step further by fighting it out in the open. In the clash, occurred in full glare of televisions cameras and in presence of mediapersons and onlookers during and after the crucial meeting of the executive council at the Hurriyat Conference headquarters here, some furniture items were also damaged. The activists belonging to rival camps while chanting slogans could be seen virtually at each other’s throat. At one stage, senior separatist leaders Syed Shabir Ahmed Shah was heard saying “Ham ney bhi chooriyan nahi pehni hai” in response to the open and abrasive criticism of his publicly asking for restructuring the Hurriyat Conference by Bilal Gani Lone, another executive member of the amalgam. Large contingents of policemen had been deployed outside the headquarters at Raj Bagh in anticipation of trouble spreading.
The sources said that during Tuesday’s meeting some executive council members openly spoke against Prof. Abdul Gani Butt, a former chairman and leader of Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference.