Srinagar residents walk past the 115-year-old school that was gutted on Monday. (AFP)

New Delhi, July 6: The Centre has decided to allow Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq to travel abroad, 18 months after it suspended his passport on the eve of a US trip.

The government will give the Mirwaiz a three-month passport to enable him to go to the US, the UK, Canada and Saudi Arabia.

The former Hurriyat chairman had sought a valid passport to go on a pilgrimage (Umrah) to the Saudi kingdom, visit his sister in London, in-laws in America and some relatives in Canada who had a bereavement in the family.

The decision was taken on July 1 after intense debate within the Indian security establishment on the merits of allowing the Mirwaiz to travel abroad.

What seemed to have weighed in favour of the Mirwaiz what that the Hurriyat had had two rounds of talks with the Centre and was slated to come to Delhi for a third round and their first meeting with home minister Shivraj Patil.

Officials said it would have not only been awkward for the government to refuse permission to a separatist leader it was engaging on the negotiating table but would have sent a negative message to the Hurriyat.

Apart from being looked upon as one of the moderate faces of the Hurriyat, the government seems to have acknowledged that the Mirwaiz had backed talks with Delhi when hardliners like Syed Ali Shah Geelani opposed it.

As Kashmir’s spiritual leader, he is the only mass leader in the Hurriyat and the conglomerate of separatist parties depends on him to reach out to the people.

Another line of thought evolving in North Block seems to be that it is pointless to place restrictions on senior Hurriyat leaders when they are not only meeting foreign dignitaries and Delhi-based diplomats in Delhi as well as Jammu and Kashmir and but also Pakistani high commission officials. “What difference would it make if they meet anyone outside the country?” an official said.

Part of the government’s confidence stems from its belief that the Hurriyat leader, who himself backed the talks, would not say or do anything abroad that would create hurdles in the ongoing dialogue.