Srinagar, April 23
The Awami National Conference (ANC) of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister GM Shah has sought a “realistic approach” to the vexed Kashmir issue.
A four-member delegation of the party comprising Mr G.R. Wani, Mr G.R Khan, Mr Amanullah Kanth and Mr Mohammad Shafi conveyed this to the Centre’s chief negotiator, Mr N.N. Vohra, during a meeting here today.
Mr Vohra, who arrived on Monday, is camping here to meet leaders of various political parties. The ANC delegation pointed out that dialogue was the only way out.
Giving details of today’s meeting with Mr Vohra, a spokesman for the Awami National Conference said the meeting was held following an invitation to the party President, Mr G.M. Shah, from New Delhi. The party had decided that it would talk to Mr Vohra only in case he accepted Kashmir as a dispute that needed to be resolved.
Meanwhile, the separatist Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) of Mr Shabir Ahmad Shah has decided not to enter into any negotiations with Mr Vohra. It has described the mission as yet another “non-serious approach” and “futile exercise”, which lacked proper ground work.
A top-level meeting of the DFP presided over by Mr Shah here today said that this decision had been taken on the basis of experiences from previous such meetings with Centre’s representatives.
It may be mentioned here that the DFP had held a series of meetings with former negotiator K.C. Pant and former Union Law Minister, Ram Jethmalani.
In a statement, a DFP spokesman said it would continue its efforts in the direction of “resolving the Kashmir issue through negotiations and extend all cooperation to any serious move.” It said any measure taken by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee seeking to resolve the Kashmir issue would be “responded to in a positive manner”.
The separatist Hurriyat Conference executive committee is meeting here tomorrow under the chairmanship of Mr Abdul Ghani Bhat to decide whether or not to hold talks with Mr Vohra. However, its senior leader and former Chairman, Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq, has said that the agenda of the chief negotiator is not clear. “It is not clear what exactly he (Mr Vohra) is up to”, Mr Mirwaiz remarked.
A senior leader of the Hurriyat, Maulana Mohammad Abbas Ansari, today said the Kashmir issue should be resolved through tripartite talks.
“We are in favour of peace in this region and welcome any move meant for resolving issues. Tripartite talks are the only way to resolve this long-pending dispute,” he told a public meeting here.
Editor of local Urdu daily “Srinagar Times” and member of the Legislative Council Sofi Ghulam Mohammad held a separate meeting with Mr Vohra today.
