M A I N   N E W S

Hurriyat says no to talks
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, April 9 — Ruling out the possibility of holding talks with the Central Government, senior Hurriyat leaders here said the “key to Kashmir lies with India”.

These leaders, including the APHC chairman, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and its spokesman, Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat and Maulvi Abbas Ansari were released from the Jodhpur jail last week. They arrived in Srinagar yesterday, spelling out the conditions of the Hurriyat to hold a dialogue with the Union Government. This was in a direct reference to the recent statement of the Union Home Minister Mr L.K. Advani, who expressed the government’s readiness to hold dialogue with the separatists in Jammu and Kashmir.

The release of three Hurriyat Conference leaders was regarded as a “direct outcome” of the recent visit of the US President Bill Clinton who completed his week-long tour of the sub-continent on March 25. Within a period of 10 days the first batch of APHC leaders was released on April 3. This is expected to be followed by other leaders, including the JKLF leader and senior executive member of the APHC , Mohammad Yaseen Malik, his associate, Javed Ahmed Mir, and Mohammad Ashraf Sahrai.

Mr Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, who were received at the APHC headquarter by the acting and former chairman, Maulvi Umar Farooq, held that they had not entered into any kind of dialogue with the Centre. Syed Ali Shah Geelani and that they were not contacted by the authorities while in jail in this connection neither any hint was given to them about the timing of their release. They said that their arrest was unjustified and that they had been released when the “government realised its misdeeds”.

“We are neither ready for talks nor have we been invited for any kind of dialogue”, Mr Geelani said in his address to APHC activists at the headquarters yesterday. He reiterated, Hurriyat stand on the demand for tripartite talks involving India, Pakistan and the representatives of Kashmir. He said since it was the decision about the future of 1.20 crore Kashmiris, they were the basic party to the dispute. The APHC spokesman said, “Basic and important party of the Kashmir issue are people of Kashmir. Mr Bhatt referred to the previous agreements at Tashkant, Shimla and Lahore declarations . He added that these accords were signed without the participation of the people and therefore could not solve the Kashmir issue.

Mr Geelani stated that the key to the “issue” was neither with Pakistan, US President Bill Clinton nor with the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. “It is with India”. He said the rigid attitude of the Government of India over the past five decades led to the trouble in the sub-continent. “Unless it uses its good offices, the Kashmir issue cannot be solved”, Mr Geelani said.