Hurriyat leaders should have taken the bus: Fernandes

Former defence minister George Fernandes on Friday criticised the Union government for allowing the All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders to travel in private vehicles to the Line-of-Control before they crossed over to the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.

Fernandes said if the Indo-Pak agreement on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad link mentioned only a bus, then the Centre should have stopped the Hurriyat leaders from traveling in private vehicles.

Speaking to rediff.com, Fernandes said: "I know that there is no restriction on the use of private vehicles to reach the LoC, but in this case the government should stick to the agreement."

He, however, did not agree with the assessment of Omar Abdullah, former minister of state for external affairs, that India has lost initiative on Kashmir. "I do not agree with his point of view. His assessment could be different from my own," Fernandes said.

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