NEW DELHI, Jan 10 — Senior Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Lone has said that the statement of Home Minister L. K. Advani about not issuing passports to all members of the APHC executive amounts to interference in the decision of the Hurriyat regarding composition of its delegation to Pakistan.

Mr Lone said here today that if the central government “issues passports selectively, it is indirectly selecting the Hurriyat delegation. Someone else may also try to dictate the Hurriyat about the selection, but the Hurriyat wants to be left alone regarding the selection of its team.”

The basic question, he asked, was whether it was somebody in Pakistan, or the Hurriyat itself, or the Indian government that would decide the composition of the delegation.

Asked if the Home Minister’s remarks would affect the Hurriyat decision to go to Pakistan, Mr Lone said that the basic point was that only the Hurriyat should make the selections. “The Hurriyat may not go to Pakistan,” Mr Lone hinted.

About the repercussions of any such decision of the Hurriyat on the peace process, Mr Lone said it was up to the Indian government to take it forward as it was India which had initiated the peace process. "On its level, the Hurriyat had said that it will also contribute to the peace process by going to Pakistan and convincing all concerned that peace should be given a chance," Mr Lone said.

He said, “The Centre’s response yesterday came pretty much unexpectedly.” Mr Lone said that none of the Hurriyat leaders had so far received communication from the Union Government regarding passports.