Kashmiri separatists across the board rejected the appointment of the interlocutors terming it 'as a futile exercise'.
The Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram announced the appointment of three interlocutors, noted academician Radha Kumar, information commissioner M M Ansari and eminent journalist Dileep Padgaonkar to initiate peace talks in the Valley.
The hard-line separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani who has been spearheading the ongoing pro-independence unrest in Kashmir described the development as 'an open proof of New Delhi's seriousness about Kashmir' which he said 'was a big issue'. Geelani reiterated that 'India will have to accept his five point formula for a forward movement'.
Categorically rejecting any confabulations with the interlocutors, Geelani described it as a 'futile exercise' reflecting 'India's plan to only gain time.
The moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq has also described the exercise as 'futile' and reiterated that his 'group has always favoured talks for the resolution of the problem'.
Favouring Kashmir-centric talks, Mirwaiz said that although he 'respected the interlocutors nominated by the centre' yet 'resolution of Kashmir problem needed firm steps and firm initiatives'.
The Mirwaiz reiterated that for 'the resolution of the Kashmir problem' he has already suggested 'constitution of an India-Pakistan parliamentary committee so that an acceptable solution could be worked out'.
The pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik in his reaction described 'the appointment of the interlocutors as a big joke with the people of Kashmir'.
Stating that 'Kashmir was an international issue which has affected four generations of Kashmiris', the 'approach of New Delhi in appointment of academicians as interlocutors seems as if we have to open new schools and colleges in the valley'.
Malik said 'Kashmir has been the source of three wars between India and Pakistan and New Delhi should recognize its importance and initiate talks at the highest level.'
