Srinagar, Apr 19: The Jamaat-e-Islami of Kashmir has categorically denied the claims of prominent separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani that one of the leaders of Jamaat met a representative of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
BJP too has denied having sent any emissaries to Geelani or any other separatist leader for arranging a meeting with Modi or to get a commitment for resolution of Kashmir issue.
Rejecting such claims by Geelani as "mischievous" and without any basis, the party said in a statement that no emissary has either try to meet or had met Geelani to discuss the Kashmir issue, PTI reported.
The statement said, the BJP's stand that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India was very clear and there was no room for deliberations on this.
The party had time and again condemned the negative role played by leaders such as Geelani "whose politics is a threat to the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir", the statement said.
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "SAS Geelani's statements are false, we assure that no representatives of BJP met with him," ANI tweeted.
"We demand an apology from Geelani for his false statements, we condemn this act of misleading people of Kashmir," the BJP leader said, according to ANI.
Ameer-i-Jamaat, (chief) Mohammad Abdullah Wani also denied that any representative of Modi met him. "No one from Narendra Modi or BJP met me. They may have met Geelani because he is a big leader but as far as I am concerned, nobody met me."
The Jamaat spokesman, advocate Zahid Ali, also denied Geelani's claim and said, "As far as I know, no such thing took place," he said.
Syed Geelani, who is chairman of a faction of the Hurriyat conference, had on Friday claimed that Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi had sent two of his emissaries to him (Geelani) on March 22 to get a commitment for resolution of the Kashmir issue.
Geelani has said he rejected the proposal and told Modi's emissaries that Modi was an RSS man ."And we know his party's policy," Geelani told reporters at a press conference here at his residence on Friday.
Chairman of another faction of Hurriyat conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has not reacted to Geelani's claim and his media adviser Shaid-ul-Islam said that Hurriyat Conference would react to Geelani's statement within a day or two.
Geelani claimed Modi had sent his representatives to other separatist groups as well. "Those who have said Modi's policy after he becomes PM regarding Kashmir would be soft and those who have expectations from him have actually met Modi's men in Kashmir," he said in an apparent reference to moderate separatist Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Muhammad Abdullah Wani.
Advocate Ramesh Arora, who is in charge of BJP's Kashmir affairs, said no one from the party approached any Kashmiri separatist leader. "We didn't approach them. "We have not been authorized to meet any of them," he said.
A senior BJP leader in New Delhi said that the party can't take any initiative over Kashmir until it retains power. "I don't think anyone from the party has met Geelani or any other separatist leader. We are not in the power yet so approaching them won't serve any purpose at this movement," he said.
Meanwhile, BJP's national vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqwi when contacted said, "I don't want to comment over it," he told a news agency.
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