Srinagar, July 19: Former separatist leader Bilal Gani Lone has blamed the Hurriyat Conference for its own irrelevance, calling the separatist conglomerate “non-functional”, and criticised Pakistan for creating a “mess” in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Hurriyat is no more relevant as on date. Hurriyat functional bhi nahi hai (Hurriyat is not even functional),” he said, adding, “let’s be honest about it… when you talk about Hurriyat as on date, it’s not present anywhere in Kashmir.”

While acknowledging that people had once reposed their trust in the Hurriyat, he said the current reality was different. “Hurriyat Conference has lost relevance because we could not act,” Lone said. “So the concept of Hurriyat may have been good at that time… but when we visualise Hurriyat today, it is non-functional and somewhere, Hurriyat has faltered, no doubt about that,” he added.

Lone was equally critical of Pakistan’s involvement. “We have heard many statements but nothing has come out (of it),” he said, adding, “Pakistan should help Kashmir in soothing things here, rather than creating fissures out here.” He rejected the idea that Pakistan could take Kashmir by force, calling it a “very silly suggestion.” Referring to a recent flare-up along the border, he said, “Not even an inch moved at the border.”

Calling for a shift in approach, Lone said, “We need to come out of this mess, whether it is with or without Pakistan, we have to come out of this.”

Expressing regret over the separatist movement’s failures, he said, “The Hurriyat Conference had got a lot of opportunities, we faltered somewhere. And we could have got something for our people, but we couldn’t. That’s the reality, let’s be honest about it.”

Lone said his decision to join mainstream politics was not driven by ambition, but by a personal conviction to participate in a “genuine political process.” Reflecting on his own journey, he said, “I have no regrets being on the other side of the fence, but the only regret, which is a very big one, is that we could not do anything. Much could have been done, but we could not,” adding, “dair aaye durust aaye (better late than never).” He said he is not in the race for any position like chief minister or MLA. “I think I need to pay it back. So for me, it is a payback time,” Lone said.

He stressed that his new political narrative would go beyond infrastructure and focus on the youth. “We have to talk about their future, which includes their education, health facilities, and prospects of setting up business,” he said.

According to Lone, the next generation has been the biggest casualty of the conflict. “Violence has given us nothing. Violence ne yahan par barbaadi hi laayi hai (violence has only brought destruction here),” he said, adding that it has “finished generations.”

He cautioned that those who tried to defeat India have “failed miserably” and said people must now accept that reality. Agencies