JAMMU, Dec 18 — The All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), a conglomerate of 23 organisations, has overshadowed the hardliners within the party by not accepting the line which senior Jamait-e-Islami leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, had favoured.

At its crucial meeting, the seven-member executive committee of the APHC, which ended in Srinagar yesterday, four senior members — Prof Abdul Ghani Bhutt, chairman of the conglomerate, Mohammed. Yaseen Malik, Mr Abdul Gani Lone and Moulvi Umar Farooq — opposed Mr Geelani’s stand. Mr Geelani had said at the meeting that the unilateral ceasefire was an attempt by the Government of India to sabotage the ongoing movement and the separatist leaders’ visit to Pakistan was meaningless.

Mr Geelani’s voice was lost amid the voices of other members as his stand found no place in the joint statement issued by the seven members at the end of their seven-hour closed-door meeting.

Yesterday’s meeting had nothing major to offer which the APHC had not stated after the end of the executive committee meeting in Srinagar on November 21 except that this time the hawks, represented by Mr Geelani and Sheikh Aziz Ahmed of the Peoples League found themselves isolated.

Before the meeting had started there was speculation that Jamiat-e-Islami may be thrown out of the APHC if it tried to snub Mr Lone for his statements made during his three-week visit to Pakistan. The impression was misplaced because the APHC may lose its shine if Jamait-e-Islami ceased to be its constituent.

At the same time, Mr Geelani was slightly apprehensive as a major section in Jamait-e-Islami was opposed to his inflexible attitude. This apprehension forced him to support the joint statement after he gave vent to his feelings candidly. He had stated that bilateral talks would have no meaning if New Delhi did not talk to Islamabad for resolving the Kashmir issue.

Mr Geelani had a taste of growing anti-Pakistan sentiments when he saw that those favouring “azadi” had outnumbered those chanting pro-Pakistan slogans outside the APHC headquarters. The groups differing in their ideologies clashed in public and the police had to intervene.

Another significant outcome of the APHC executive committee meeting has been that the separatist conglomerate has not turned down the peace initiative which was set in motion by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, while announcing unilateral ceasefire during Ramzan. The APHC placed the ball in the court of the Indian Government when the joint statement said in order to carry the peace process and the plan of resolving the Kashmir issue, the APHC leaders be allowed to meet militants in Pakistan and hold talks with New Delhi and Islamabad.

Again the APHC has put a rider by suggesting to the Government of India to allow its leaders to visit Pakistan before formal talks could begin. Prof Abdul Ghani Butt said they were seeking permission to visit Pakistan not for pleasure but for meeting leaders of various militant outfits whose cooperation was necessary for making the peace process a success.

He also made it clear that they would neither approach New Delhi for permission to visit Pakistan nor for fixing a date for the talks between the separatists and the government.

This indicates that despite the passage of three weeks of ceasefire, the APHC leaders have not shown any major transformation. Even the moderates in the conglomerate want Pakistan to be involved in the talks.

At the same time these moderates await a signal from Delhi and if the government does permit some APHC leaders to visit Pakistan, it may set the ball rolling, otherwise there may not be any progress in the peace process.