File photo: Bilal Lone (PIcture credit: PTI)
SRINAGAR: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who has come under attack for removing the “Chairman, All Parties Hurriyat Conference” designation from his X handle, received unexpected support on the issue from Bilal Gani Lone, a former Hurriyat functionary, on Saturday.Lone dismissed the criticism as “shallow, dishonest and dangerous.” He said Mirwaiz Umar had paid an enormous personal price from a very young age, “losing his father and later his uncle to the conflict, and shouldering responsibilities that many of his critics would lack the courage to accept.”Bilal’s younger brother and People’s Conference chairman, Sajad Lone, had earlier criticised Mirwaiz for modifying his X bio, describing it as the Kashmir chief cleric’s “surrender in lieu of protocol and CRPF security.”
