Separatist seminar in Delhi shocking: BJP

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday said the holding of a seminar by the Kashmir separatists in New Delhi a day ago was shocking since the government remained a mute spectator.

BJP leader Arun Jaitley speaking on the separatists seminar attended by hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani said: “Yesterday the whole country was shocked when a large number of separatist groups met in Delhi under the very nose of the central government at a conference to instigate sedition from India.”

“Even the title of the conference was Azadi [freedom],” he said.

No group has a right to sedition and how can the government be a mute spectator, he said.

Later the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram refuted the BJP charge and said the government was not a mute spectator and action would be taken, according to a TV report.

The seminar on Thursday was disrupted by a group of Kashmiri Hindu activists who tried to prevent Geelani and author-activist Arundhati Roy from speaking at the seminar.

The Hindu group consists primarily the Kashmir Pandit community members.