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Differences surface between Hurriyat and Hizb on response to truce

Differences have surfaced between militant organisations on the issue of responding positively to India's cease-fire even as pressure mounted on India to issue passports to all seven Hurriyat Conference executive council members to travel to Pakistan for talks.

Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Lone said in Srinagar that the proposed visit by Hurriyat leaders to Pakistan was aimed at convincing the militant groups and powers that influence them to respond positively to the cease-fire.

"Militants should give a positive response to the cease-fire to prevent New Delhi from putting the condition of ending cross-border terrorism for talks," he said.

But Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin told The Dawn newspaper that "We believe the Hurriyat cannot suggest to the mujahideen to respect the so-called cease-fire because it does not have any mandate for that."

Salahuddin not only rejected the cease-fire as a pre-requisite for talks, but threatened to intensify Hizb strikes against Indian targets. "The cease-fire is worthless unless India made a categorical declaration that "Kashmir is a disputed territory and it is ready to resolve it through meaningful tripartite talks. Till that happens, the operations of the mujahideen would continue. Rather we would intensify and stretch them," he said.

He said a truce was not a pre-requisite for resolution of the issue and cited the examples of Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and Vietnam where, according to him, talks and the militancy ran simultaneously. "Dialogue is a separate process and actions are a separate thing," he said.

Salahuddin said Pakistan was "already behind the Kashmiris and has been extending all out political, moral and diplomatic support to them all along the past 53 years. But the thing that needs to be settled with New Delhi is how sincere and serious it is in resolving the festering issue," adding "If the Hurriyat does not get any assurance from the Indian government beforehand, then their journey will prove an exercise in futility."

Senior Hurriyat leaders Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and Lone told foreign broadcasting organisations that the Centre should issue passports to all seven executive council members and leave the team's composition to the Hurriyat.

Salahuddin has insisted that if all seven executive council members did not travel to Pakistan, it will be an "exercise in futility."

PTI

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