rediff.com: Shabir Shah ready to talk to Pant

Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah said on Monday that he was prepared for meaningful talks with the Centre, but the government should simultaneously engage in a dialogue with Pakistan.

"We will hold talks with K C Pant, provided the government is not intending to make a mess of it by roping in every party or group to the negotiating table," Shah, president of the Jammu & Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party, told the Press Trust of India in New Delhi.

Shah said it was high time the government showed its sincerity and talked to "actual leaders who opposed Kashmir's accession" rather than to parties like the Congress and the National Conference.

Reacting to talks between Pant and former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Mir Qassim on Sunday, Shah said, "No doubt Qassim could give a thorough briefing to Pant on Kashmir, but at the end of it he has to talk to us."

Shah, who was credited with spreading the influence of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference in the early years, said, "Another issue is that India should hold talks with Pakistan."

Commenting on India's condition that Islamabad should first stop encouraging cross-border terrorism before any dialogue could begin, Shah said, "Big men should have big hearts. When Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee undertook the Lahore bus trip, this process was on even at that time. The Centre should give up its rigid stand and engage in meaningful talks with its neighbour."

Shah, who was termed a 'prisoner of his conscience' by Amnesty International, a human rights organisation based in London, said the Centre should understand the language of Pakistan's military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, who has expressed willingness to talk.

"I am not stressing for tripartite talks, but a consensus needs to be evolved between India, Pakistan and the people of the state in a bid to find a solution to the problem which has been dogging peace efforts in the entire south Asia," he said.

Referring to small parties and groups in Jammu & Kashmir, Shah said it was for the Hurriyat or his party to negotiate with them. "After all, they are our babies and we will ensure that whosoever represents Kashmir at the negotiating table will do so with a consensus," he said.

Stressing the need for holding talks with terrorist groups based in Pakistan, Shah said, "They also need to be taken into confidence." He maintained that all these were necessary elements to broker peace in the state.

Stating that his party had no problem if the Centre decided to hold talks with the APHC, Shah, who is no longer a member of the conglomerate, said, "I am interested in eating mangoes. How it comes is not my problem."

About the Hurriyat Conference, however, he added, "They have not still learnt to broad-base their conglomerate to reach out to Jammu and Ladakh. I brought them to Delhi and from there they have moved nowhere."

"We cannot ignore the Kashmiri Pandits, Dogras of Jammu and Buddhists of Ladakh, which everybody should understand," he remarked.


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