The separatist Hurriyat Conference on Friday asked mainstream political parties not to take part in the forthcoming assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir [Images], saying polls cannot be a substitute to the demand for "right to self determination".
    
"Elections have never been and can never be a substitute to our right to self determination...," Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq said addressing a Friday congregation at the Jama Masjid in Srinagar [Images].
    
He said mainstream political parties should desist from participating in elections which "hold no meaning for the people".
    
Separatist leaders have been calling for boycott of elections from time to time.
    
Mirwaiz said the Hurriyat will launch a movement of "courting arrest" if the "vindictive policies" of the government continued.