New Delhi,
May 12
It was the failure of the recent Sharjah conclave, from Pakistan’s point of view, of Kashmiri leaders from the two sides of the Line of Control, that triggered off Abdul Majid Dar’s expulsion from the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM).
The decision to sack HM’s supremo in India, Abdul Majid Dar, was taken after Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had failed to persuade the All Party Hurriyat Conference leaders Abdul Ghani Lone and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq during the April 16-17 Sharjah conclave against the path of peace.
Sources here said today that the Director-General of the ISI, Lt-Gen Ehsanul Haq, and Brigadier Abdullah, looking after the political affairs of Kashmir, had to rush to Sharjah, fearing that the Kashmiri leaders might agree to resolve Kashmir issue peacefully as the people of the valley were fed up with militancy.
The Sharjah conclave was attended by Kashmiri leaders from both sides of the LoC like Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, former PoK Prime Minister, Syed Nazir Geelani of the J & K Council of Human Rights, UK, Mr Mushtaq Geelani of the Kashmir Canadian Council (KCC), Mr Ghulam Nabi Fai of the Kashmir American Council (KAC) and Raja Nazabuddin Hussain from the UK.
The ISI chief had tried to persuade them not to participate in the forthcoming elections and to derail the forthcoming election process in Jammu and Kashmir. They were also assured of substantial financial help. The ISI chief also advised Lone and Mirwaiz to maintain unity in the APHC.
Through its High Commission here, Pakistan had been asking Hurriyat leaders to maintain unity and not to participate in the Assembly elections. Sources said the ISI chief also, in his meetings with Lone and Umar Farooq, had warned them that it would not be possible for them to extend support to the APHC if it remained divided.
Both Mr Lone and Mr Umar Farooq had made it clear to the ISI officials and Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan that the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir had changed vastly. They told the ISI bosses that the Kashmiris wanted peace, were fed up with violence and that was why they were not supporting militancy any longer.
The Hurriyat leaders had also informed the ISI officials that recently, diplomats from the UK, Germany and Canada had visited the valley and they were also of the view that there should be a political process as the people were fed up with militancy.
Mr Lone and Mirwaiz had told the ISI officials that people in Jammu and Kashmir were openly questioning the leadership in Islamabad and Muzaffarabad who were living in airconditioned houses and were not aware of the ground realities.
Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, now Chairman of the Kashmir Committee, had also supported Mirwaiz and Mr Lone. Mr Khan had also been attempting to distance the Kashmiri struggle from
militancy.
(Concluded; Earlier story: 4
top Hizb leaders join Dar )
