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If it's Brajesh, we may talk: Hurriyat

Basharat Peer in New Delhi

Though the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference has rejected the possibility of talking to Wajahat Habibullah, it now appears that the separatist conglomerate will consider coming to the negotiation table if a bigger name is assigned to the job.

"When Hurriyat rejected the offer to talk to K C Pant, what sense would it make to speak to Wajahat Habibullah, who is much junior in the hierarchy?" senior Hurriyat politician Abdul Gani Lone said. "If we have to talk, it should be somebody with access to the prime minister, someone like Brajesh Mishra."

Habibullah, a senior Indian Administrative Service officer of the Jammu & Kashmir cadre who played a key role in the negotiation that ended the siege of the Hazratbal shrine in 1993, visited Kashmir recently and met Hurriyat chairman Abdul Gani Bhat.

The visit was seen as a backdoor initiative to start talks with the separatists, but the Hurriyat has apparently slammed the door on it.

Lone, however, was unconvincing in explaining Habibullah's meeting with Bhat. He described it as a personal visit, arguing that Habibullah had served in the valley for many years and had personal relations with many people there.

But two questions remain. Why did Habibullah suddenly visit the valley after so many years? Also, after meeting Bhat and J&K Democratic Freedom Party politician Shabir Shah, why did he brief K C Pant?

But Lone dismissed the perception that Habibullah's visit was the beginning of a new initiative to resume peace talks. Instead, he argued, it was part of the government's efforts to divide the separatists.

"It has been the age-old game of the Government of India to bring disrepute to any strong political formation in Kashmir," he said.

To counter this and the government's long-time charge that the Hurriyat is not representative of the people of the state, the conglomerate recently proposed to form an election commission of its own to conduct polls in Jammu & Kashmir. The representatives thus elected will participate in trilateral talks aimed at resolving the Kashmir dispute, according to the organisation's plan.

Lone believes this election should happen before the J&K assembly election, due in October this year. But the Hurriyat is still working out the details. A committee, which has been asked to file a report to the executive council, is still to do so. "No time frame has been set for the committee to submit the report," said another Hurriyat politician.

The Hurriyat, which proposes to hold this "people's election" in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as well, has not received any response from across the Line of Control.

"We do not recognise 'Azad Kashmir' as part of Pakistan and we will conduct elections there too," a Hurriyat spokesman insisted.

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