M A I N   N E W S

Pak kindles Hurriyat hopes
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 14
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who today had a half-hour meeting with leaders of the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) at the reception hosted by the Pakistan High Commissioner here, said Pakistan would try to involve the APHC in future talks on the Kashmir issue.

The meeting was held even as senior political leaders from India, including a former Prime Minister, waited for the arrival of Gen Musharraf at the residence of Pakistan High Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi.

Umar Farooq, a front-line leader of the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference (APHC) gestures after meeting Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in New Delhi on Saturday.  —  Reuters photo Abdul Gani Bhat (R), chairman of the APHC, speaks to a journalist in New Delhi on Saturday. —  Reuters photo

Soon after the lack-lustre and ill-organised tea party began at 5.30 pm, Gen Musharraf went for a meeting with the APHC leaders. Six of the seven executive members of the APHC were present at the meeting with the JKLF having decided not to participate in the tea party.

Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, a senior Hurriyat leader, said Gen Musharraf told them that Pakistan would continue its “moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris’ right of self-determination.”

Gen Musharraf told the APHC leaders that a mechanism should be evolved to involve their participation in the talks in future. Hurriyat leaders told the General that they had absolute faith on Pakistan supporting APHC’s participation in finding a solution to the Kashmir conflict. Gen Musharraf said he had come to India with an open mind but Kashmir was the main issue between the two countries.

The Mirwaiz said Pakistan considered the APHC to be the legitimate voice of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He said no invitation was extended to the Hurriyat leaders to visit Pakistan during the meeting.

The APHC leader claimed Gen Musharraf said that things could not go further without talk of Kashmir and involvement of Kashmiris.

He said though there was little time for detailed discussions, the Hurriyat leaders conveyed their desire for release of “political prisoners” in Jammu and Kashmir. The APHC leader said the issue of militancy was not discussed during the meeting. Hoping that the Agra summit would succeed, the Mirwaiz said the APHC realised the complexity of the issue. “Things have just started happening,” he said.

The Hurriyat leader hoped that some time-frame for discussing and solving the Kashmir issue should be finalised at Agra.

Besides the Mirwaiz, the Hurriyat leaders who met Mr Musharraf included its chairman Abdul Ghani Bhat, Abdul Ghani Lone, Syed Alishah Geelani, Moulvi Abbas Ansari and Sheikh Abdul Aziz.

While the NDA boycotted the tea-party and leaders from some Left parties, Samajwadi Party besides former Prime Minister V.P. Singh were present, the Congress sent its Secretary of Foreign Affairs Department Anil Mathrani to represent the party.

Mr Mathrani, who has been working in the party’s foreign affairs cell for the past 20 years, was chosen after the main Opposition party decided to scale down level of its participation in the tea party following Gen Musharraf’s decision to hold one-to-one meeting with the APHC leaders.

Others present at the reception included Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mr Amar Singh, Mr Raj Babbar and Mr Mahesh Bhat.