Srinagar, May 29
The Geelani faction of the APHC here today decided not to visit PoK by the Muzaffarabad bus on June 2 in response to the Pakistan Government’s invitation that was also extended to other separatist organisations.
This was announced by the chairman, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, at the end of about six hours of deliberations on the invitation by over a dozen constituent members at his Hyderpora residence here this afternoon. Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir led by Geelani had its day-long discussion on the Pakistan invitation received yesterday. He also condemned the government’s “restrictions” on the visit of those boarding the bus beyond PoK. Referring to the visit of the leaders of the moderate faction and others, Mr Geelani held that he would felicitate them “in case they returned with azadi or the grant of the right of self-determination”.
“It has been decided that we will not travel by the bus (Muzaffarabad) on June 2,” Mr Geelani said, adding that the decision got a majority support of the constituent members. “Some members were in favour of undertaking the travel for it would be fruitful,” he added. One of its constituent members, the Peoples League, whose leader, Sheikh Abdul Aziz is at present under detention, had pulled out of today’s talks to discuss the invitation. The Peoples League had also announced that it would not join the APHC in case it decided to visit PoK by the bus on June 2.
Giving reasons for deciding against the visit, Mr Geelani said “We wanted to show our resentment towards Pakistan’s present policies on its national stand on the Kashmir issue”. He held that recent statements of the Pakistan President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, showed “flexibility” on its stand on Kashmir and “concessions to India”.
“Instead, we would like to convey to Pakistan that it should not shift its stand on Kashmir,” Mr Geelani commented, adding that Pakistan showed its repeated flexibility. He lamented that India, in spite of the “concessions”, did not respond in a positive manner and thereby it was not reflected on the ground situation in Kashmir.
The APHC leader pointed out that there was also no reason to visit Pakistan at this juncture for
the neighbouring country had been the “supporter of the Kashmir cause”, and fought three wars with India over the Kashmir. “It is not Pakistan that has suppressed Kashmiris, but India which has been keeping Kashmir under its “forced occupation”, Mr Geelani commented. He added that Kashmiris had been fighting against this over the past 57 years. Pakistan was not in a position to grant the right of self-determination or azadi to Kashmiris, but it could influence India to change the situation in Kashmir, resolving the issue.
Mr Geelani reiterated his stand on the right of self-determination under UN resolutions and tripartite talks to resolve the issue. He said the talks would not be fruitful unless all three parties — India, Pakistan and the representatives of Jammu and Kashmir — were involved. “We are not warmongers… we are a peace-loving people,” he said expressing the hope that relations between the two countries should improve. He, however, added that this should have its impact on the ground situation in Kashmir. Mr Geelani also expressed concern over the continued excesses allegedly by the security forces, custodial deaths and detention of Kashmiri youth.
