Hurriyat hits back at govt, says security to separatist leaders undemanded

Reacting to the Jammu and Kashmir government's decision to withdraw security cover for five separatist leaders, the Hurriyat Conference said they had never sought security in the first place. "The government decided on its own to provide security to separatist leaders which was never demanded in the first place," the Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, one of the five leaders, said in a statement.

"Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, in fact, said many times during his Friday sermons that he wanted the withdrawal of the security cover. "The decision to withdraw security will neither change the stand of the separatist leaders nor affect the situation on the ground," the statement added.

Besides Mirwaiz, the authorities on Sunday decided to withdraw security cover to Abdul Gani Bhat, Bilal Lone, Hashim Qureshi and Shabir Shah. No security cover was provided to two other separatist leaders, Syed Ali Geelani and Muhammad Yasin Malik.

The decision will be implemented by Sunday evening, according to government sources.