Abdul Ghani Bhat, Live!

Just eight months ago, the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference, a conglomeration of 23 separatist parties in Jammu & Kashmir, was being assiduously wooed by the Government of India to hold talks on the Kashmir tangle. But by the time the government's six-month ceasefire in the state ended in May, the Hurriyat was out of favour, thanks to its insistence on first visiting Pakistan before talking to the government, ostensibly to consult the militant groups based across the border.

And when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee extended an invitation to President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan to visit India for a summit, the Hurriyat was in danger of being isolated completely.

Until Professor Abdul Gani Bhat, the articulate, passionate chairman of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference, managed to make a breakthrough by wangling an invitation from the Pakistanis for himself and the six other members of the APHC executive to meet President Musharraf in New Delhi on July 14.

Professor Bhat, who personally favours Jammu & Kashmir's accession to Pakistan, will appear on The Rediff Chat on 11 July at 1845 IST (0915 EDT) to explain why he believes that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Musharraf must not go ahead with their summit without first hearing out the Hurriyat's representatives.

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