M.L. Kak
Tribune News ServiceJammu June 14
The Executive Committee of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) seems to be reluctant to take a hasty decision on any issue concerning Kashmir. This became evident when the 70-member Executive Committee failed to come to a definite conclusion on its future role and its stand on the proposed summit meeting between Heads of Pakistan and India during its one-day discussion in Srinagar yesterday.
Yesterday’s meeting has been “inconclusive” and no fresh date has been fixed for another round of discussion by the seven wisemen of the 23-member conglomerate. According to the Chairman of the APHC, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, “Our stand on the summit meeting and other allied issues required a threadbare discussion. We have decided to meet again but I have not yet fixed any date for the meeting.”
He made it clear that the APHC had already endorsed and supported the Indo-Pakistan summit meeting. Asked when his stand was already known what was the need for keeping the summit meeting on the agenda of the Executive Committee meeting, Prof Bhat said: “We have to chalk out our future strategy because we do not feel ourselves irrelevant to the political situation that has emerged after Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee invited Gen Pervez Musharraf for talks to Delhi”.
He said the APHC had always been in favour of resumption of Indo-Pakistan dialogue. “It has been in this context that we had sought permission from Delhi for allowing a five-member Hurriyat team to visit Pakistan for discussing the Kashmir issue and allied matters with Islamabad and leaders of various militant groups.” He lamented that denial of the permission to the Hurriyat team to visit Pakistan had delayed the dialogue for the settlement of the Kashmir issue and for restoration of peace to the state.
Indise reports said the Executive Committee of the APHC would not risk taking any hasty decision because its recent statement that it had postponed its stir had resulted in fresh conflict between the moderates and the hardliners in the organisation. When a hardliner like Syed Ali Shah Geelani announced its opposition to the statement on the plea that it had not been discussed by the Executive Committee and because of “increased cases of excesses” being committed by the security forces, Prof Bhat was at pain explaining that by postponing the agitation he had not meant that the APHC had suspended its political movement.
At yesterday’s meeting Syed Ali Shah Geelani was conspicuous by his absence and the Jamait-e-Islami was represented by Qazi Ahadullah. But Prof Bhat said since Mr Geelani was out of the summer capital in connection with the demise of a party activist, he could not attend the meeting.
Already dissension has surfaced within the APHC apex body because of ideological non-conformity. As such any hasty step could land some of the “rootless” constituents in trouble. Except for the Jamait-e-Islami, which is cadre-based and has pockets of influence in the entire Kashmir valley, other parties have limited influence and have survived only under the “tattered” umbrella of the APHC.
It is no longer a secret that the influence of the People’s Conference headed by Mr Abdul Gani Lone has pockets of influence in Kupwara and Baramula districts and that of the Awami Action Committee chief, Molvi Umar Farooq, confined to Srinagar city, though in recent years he has made some inroads into the outskirts of the summer capital and some rural areas in south Kashmir.
With fears that the APHC may face total marginalisation, its leaders plan to assert their authority under the Hurriyat banner so that at a later stage they can be consulted by both India and Pakistan or at least are involved in tripartite talks.
Meanwhile, local English and Urdu dailies alleged that the executive failed to take any decision because of differences on some points among the members. A newspaper reported that because of conflict within the APHC executive, it failed to take any decision.
Another newspaper reported that there were sharp differences among members about what role the APHC should play during the forthcoming visit of General Musharraf.
The publication reported that there were some hot words between the members and former Chairman Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and Mr Abdul Gani Lone left the meeting half-way.
A radical militant outfit, Jamait-ul-Mujahideen, has described the recent statement of Hurriyat leaders as the “voice of India”.
Criticising Mr Lone for his statement that militants should keep off religious places, a spokesman of the outfit said that the “mujahideen” often went to mosque for prayers and if there was a security cordon, they would have to fight.
The Dukhtaran-i-Millat said the APHC decision to defer its agitation against India in view of the forthcoming visit of General Musharraf would not have any affect on the ongoing struggle in Kashmir.
