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Hurriyat 'shocked' by Advani's RS statement

Hurriyat Conference leaders will meet on Monday to decide the future course of action after Union Home Minister L K Advani made it clear in the Rajya Sabha Wednesday that the government of India has not given them any mandate to act as mediators.

This was disclosed by Hurriyat executive committee member Mirwaiz Omer Farooq in a telephonic interview with rediff.com. Speaking from his residence, Mirwaiz said that he was shocked to hear Advani's statement in the Rajya Sabha.

"At no stage have we said that we were mediating on behalf of the government of India. Since we are a party to the dispute, it is our right to talk about the solution to the Jammu and Kashmir problem. I heard Advani telling Parliament that the government would hold talks with all the concerned parties in the state and talk to Pakistan directly. Our position is different from the other political parties like the National Conference, the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and others. They have no problem with the Indian government. We have not accepted the Indian position so they should talk to us rather than all other concerned parties. We have gone out of our way to welcome the initiative taken by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the hope that it would help bringing peace in the state," he claimed.

"I agree that Vajpayee took a bold initiative and we in the Hurriyat welcomed it. Pakistan invited us for talks but the government of India is not allowing us to go there," he said.

"Vajpayee means business but people like L K Advani, Geroge Fernandes and Dr Farooq Abdullah are acting as stumbling blocks in the peace process. These are the people who have to implement the cease-fire on the ground and if they start behaving like this, how can you have peace?" he asked.

Referring to Advani's statement that leaders who have passports can go to Pakistan, he said, "We do not have passports. I am the only one who has a passport. We are not going there as individuals but as a delegation. The government is talking about militants killing innocents in the valley. We have told them that we will go to Pakistan and talk with those who are wielding the gun so that peace returns to valley. The government has extended the cease-fire by three months. But what next?" he asked.

He ruled out the Hurriyat participating in the peace conference called by former J&K chief minister G M Shah on March 17 and 18 in Jammu. "We are not attending that conference," he said.

Meanwhile, 26 Kashmiri leaders, journalists and intellectuals, including heads of eight political parties of the so-called Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan have submitted applications to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad for visas. They have been invited by former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister G M Shah, to attend a peace conference on Kashmir in Jammu on March 17and 18.

Among those who applied for visas were JKLF chairman Amanullah Khan, Abdul Khaliq Ansari, founder president of the JK Plebiscite Front, Fhaukat Maqbool Butt (son of Maqbool Butt) and Nawaj Khan Naji of the Blawaristan National Front Gilgit.

The Kashmir Cease-Fire: The Complete Coverage

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