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Hurriyat team to meet US delegation

A four-member Hurriyat team is arriving in New Delhi on May 21 to meet an American Congressional delegation to discuss the Kashmir problem, a top Hurriyat source said.

The source told rediff.com that the Hurriyat team is meeting a 16-member US delegation in a bid to discuss how the Kashmir issue can be solved with the concerned parties - India, the Hurriyat and Pakistan.

He pointed out that the delegation will comprise representatives of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, the Muslim Conference, the People's Conference and the Awami Action Committee.

He said central government's interlocutor K C Pant's letter to Jammu & Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party leader Shabir Shah that India was willing to engage Pakistan in talks to solve the Kashmir issue "leaves much room for doubt".

He pointed out that Pant's offer was subject to the condition that Islamabad should create a conducive environment for the purpose.

"Translated in plain language, this means that New Delhi is imposing conditions for the participation of Pakistan in the talks," he said.

In this context, he also referred to the Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan Vijay Nambiar emphasising that there was no question of (India) holding a dialogue with Pakistan until it categorically stopped "what India has termed as cross-border terrorism".

He also pointed out that the Hurriyat has called for a strike on May 21 in J&K to observe Martyr's Day, apart from holding blood-donation camps and other programmes.

The Hurriyat functionary indicated that his party is not encouraged by the government's "dilly-dallying tactics" which is why it is keen in meeting the US delegation so that pressure can be mounted to find an expeditious solution to the Kashmir problem.

He indicated that the JKLF leader Javed Ahmed Mir had strongly criticised the People's Conference leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz for saying that the Hurriyat did not want independence in J&K.

Underscoring that "an independent J & K means everything to us," he quoted Mir as saying that Aziz had no locus standi in making a "unilateral decision regarding independence in Kashmir."

Aziz has been provided a passport by the Vajpayee government for travelling to Pakistan to attend his brother's marriage.

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