M A I N   N E W S

Delicacies for wedding of Lone’s son
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Nov 16 — Supporters of Mr Abdul Gani Lone, Chairman Peoples’ Conference and a senior leader of All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), are said to have carried bundles of “nadru: (lotuo stom), considered to be one of the Kashmiri delicacies, and “moval” (cook’s comb), used as a colouring agent in “wazwaan”, to Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan occupied Kashmir, where Mr Lone’s son, Sajjad, is getting married to JKLF supremo, Amanullah Khan’s daughter.

Informed sources said when Mr Lone and his supporters sent a word to those engaged in the sale of “Nadru” in the Dal Lake the finest stuff was brought out of the lake as a gift to the “baratis” in Muzaffarabad, since cock’s comb is available only in the Kashmir valley and is used to add colour to mutton preparations Mr Lone has plans to serve typical Kashmiri delicacies along with those of across the border.

Though Amanullah Khan had invited all senior leaders of the APHC, majority of them could not make it to Muzaffarabad. The APHC chairman, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, said he could not go because he had no passport. He said that in 1994 he had applied for the passport and it was not issued. Since then he has never renewed his request for a passport.

Prof Bhat said the JKLF chief, Mohammad Yasin Malik, too has no passport. The passport of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, another senior APHC leader, has been impounded.

He said Mr Lone had not invited him and other senior APHC leaders. At the same time reports said that while Mr Lone was fighting for his passport and visa with the Central Government he had also made a strong plea for allowing Prof Bhat, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and others to visit Pakistan in connection with his son’s marriage. His request was rejected.

Prof Bhat said since the wedding and politics could not be mixed in Muzaffarabad “we did not take any keen interest in being present.” He made it clear that if Mr Lone discussed politics, including the Kashmir issue with Amanullah Khan and other Pakistani and PoK leaders he would do it “in his personal capacity.” The APHC has not given any “mandate” to Mr Lone to discuss the Kashmir issue.

Meanwhile, the authorities in Pakistan and occupied Kashmir have decided to accord warm welcome to Mr Lone and his entourage. Reports said Mr Lone may be given a treatment that befits a cabinet minister. Political observers here said that this was part of the Pakistan strategy to win over Mr Lone who, of late, has distanced himself from Islamabad. It is in this context that he has suggested to Pakistan to leave people and political leaders in Kashmir alone in their fight for “azadi.”

It is this stand that has widened the gap between him and the Jamait-e-Islami faction led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

Peoples’ Democratic Freedom Party Chairman Shabir Ahmed Shah also was keen to visit Muzaffarabad to attend the wedding of the daughter of Amanullah Khan. He could not make it to Pakistan because he had not been issued the necessary travel documents despite having completed all formalities.

He said that he had been invited by Amanullah Khan, but not by Abdul Gani Lone. He, however, said that the permission granted by New Delhi and Islamabad to a large group of persons from Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi to attend the wedding was a healthy change. He said he was always for travel between the two sides without restrictions. He hoped that the wedding of Khan’s daughter would usher in a new era of free exchange of views between people and political leaders of the two sides.