If Hurriyat is ready, govt should initiate talks: Mehbooba Mufti

If leaders of Hurriyat Conference are ready to talk, then the Center should use this opportunity to initiate a dialogue with the separatist group, said former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday.

"It is being said by the moderate faction of Hurriyat, that they are ready to talk. If Hurriyat is ready today to talk then Central govt should use this opportunity and must initiate to have a dialogue with Hurriyat," Mufti said.

Contending that situation in Jammu and Kashmir is changing, Governor Satya Pal Malik had on June 22 said that separatist Hurriyat Conference leaders were ready for talks with the Centre.

Mufti said that if BJP wants they can solve the issue of insurgency.

"BJP has won with a great mandate in 2014 and 2019, They can solve any issue they want," she said.

Denouncing the government's restriction on civilians' use of Jammu-Srinagar Highway during Amarnath Yatra, she said, "This yatra signifies brotherhood. This year the arrangements are done to irk locals. They can not use the highways, even in an emergency they are forced to wait for pilgrims to pass."

"This is excesses against people by the Central government. I urge the governor to take action and open the highway for locals," she asserted.