Srinagar: Holding the breakaway group of 12 General Council members led by hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani as responsible for the horizontal split in the Hurriyat, the amalgam on September 15 said the rebels flourished on "trouble-making and mischief mongering" and they would not agree to reconciliation.

"The damage has been done. They (rebels) broke the Hurriyat horizontally," former Hurriyat chairman Abdul Gani Bhat said when asked to comment on rebel group's head Masrat Alam's refusal to reconcile.

"Whoever has done it will go down in the annals of history as a traitor. They are now performing the last rites by holding meetings and talking to the media," Bhat said.

The former chairman of the 25-party amalgam was quick to add that the breakaway group would not affect the credibility or the strength of the Hurriyat Conference.

"Let there be no miscalculation that in accordance with the provisions of the (Hurriyat) constitution, Hurriyat comprises the executive council, which is in tact. Therefore, Hurriyat has not gone to the wind," Bhat said.

Moreover, many of the General Council members have also fallen in line with the Hurriyat Executive Council, he said.

Bhat said the rebels would not agree to reconcile their differences with the Hurriyat as a troublemaker and a mischief monger can never talk of reconciliation. It is only this card in which they can flourish.

He said the rebels were on a demolition mission adding, "If a demolition expert could pass off for a builder, I can understand their desire for reconciliation."

Bhat admitted that Hurriyat had suffered a setback due to the defection of second-rung leadership from the General Council.

"It (Hurriyat) of course has suffered a setback in terms of its coherence, movement and leadership. This should never have happened at a stage when significant changes in terms of peoples' attitudes and the styles of working at different levels are shaping up," he said.

"When we should have spoken in one voice, our boys chose to strike a note of discord. God help them – the simpletons in politics," the former Hurriyat chairman said.

Bhat said the Hurriyat Executive Council would come out in few days with ideas, which hopefully will engage the attention of people here and there.

The two factions of Hurriyat Conference headed by Alam and Maulana Mohammad Abbas Ansari are both claiming to be the genuine Hurriyat. Though the Ansari faction did announce some moves aimed at reconciliation between the two sides, the Alam faction has ruled out any such possibility.

However, so far diplomatic circles in New Delhi have given recognition to the Ansari faction.

A European Union delegation and Britain's Deputy High Commissioner Mark Runacres, during their recent visit to the valley, met Ansari faction – which was seen as an endorsement of diplomatic community to their claims.

PTI