Moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Friday said the Centre has never offered unconditional talks to separatists in Kashmir.
The Mirwaiz's reaction came a day after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that he had asked former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti to try and speak to Hurriyat
"We were ready for unconditional talks. They (Hurriyat) did not respond to our initiative," Singh had said Thursday.
The Mirwaiz said, "To put the record straight, the truth as all of Kashmir knows, is that there never was any offer of 'unconditional' talk at any point by this government."
He claimed that all efforts "on the contrary" by this government has been towards a military solution with a view to integrate Kashmir and even do away with its special status.
The Mirwaiz said Hurriyat has always maintained that the way forward is through sincere deliberations among the stakeholders -- India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir -- working towards a final settlement in "keeping with the aspirations of the people of J&K".
Earlier in the day,the Mirwaiz organised a gathering of separatist and social organisations at the Jamia Masjid to deliberate upon the incident of ISIS flag waving at the pulpit of the historic mosque last week.
"The Kashmir struggle is purely indigenous in nature where people are fighting New Delhi's forcible control on Kashmir. Our goal is right to self determination and our motivation is Islamic values of defending the truth and fight for justice.
"People should remain cautious and not allow any attempt aimed at giving the Kashmir struggle a global colour by linking it with some global agenda a move that suits New Delhi by all means," the separatists said in statement after the deliberations.
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