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Hurriyat fears govt will scuttle meeting with Clinton

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

The acting chairman of the separatist All-Parties Hurriyat Conference, Moulvi Umar Farooq, "fears" that the Government of India may try to sabotage the appointment fixed by APHC leaders with United States President Bill Clinton during his visit to India next week.

"We have fixed an appointment with Clinton and are hopeful that it will take place," Umar told rediff.com

He said the APHC would "press for the appointment of an international arbitrator on Kashmir during the meeting with Clinton". But "we fear the Government of India may try to sabotage our meeting".

Farooq explained, "We are hopeful that after the tit-for-tat nuclear blasts in 1998, Kashmir has become a possible nuclear flashpoint and therefore brooks an immediate solution."

He added, "Implementation of the UN resolutions on Kashmir is the only practicable solution."

Another prominent separatist and president of the Democratic Freedom Party, Shabir Ahmed Shah, told rediff.com that his organisation would stage "massive demonstrations" in Delhi during Clinton's visit.

"I am leaving for Delhi on Monday along with 400 Kashmiri men, women and children who have been the victims of violence to focus international attention on Kashmir during the visit," he said.

"There can be no lasting peace in the subcontinent unless the Kashmir issue is resolved," he added.

Shah said he and his supporters would stage a hunger strike in front of Parliament House when the US president addresses a joint session of both Houses. Shah will also submit a detailed memorandum to the US embassy in Delhi.

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, however, said, "We do not attach unnecessary importance to Clinton's visit. He can at the most tell both India and Pakistan to resolve the dispute peacefully and reiterate his offer for mediation."

A spokesman of the association in Srinagar said the Kashmir dispute could only be resolved when all parties, including China, sit together across the table. The banned Islamic Students' League hoped the US president would take tangible measures to resolve the Kashmir dispute "in accordance with the people's wishes".

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