Jammu, January 5
Significance is being attached to the recent visit of Mr Wajahat Habibullah, a senior bureaucrat and at present Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Public Administration in Mussoorie, to Srinagar where he had separate meetings with several leaders of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference.
Mr Habibullah has functioned as Divisional Commissioner, Jammu during a critical period and his handling of the Hazratbal shrine siege by militants had endeared him to people and political leaders of different hues. Knowledgeable circles say that his visit was part of the diplomatic exercise to encourage separatists to participate in the mainstream political activities.
The Chairman, APHC, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, confirmed that Mr Habibullah had a 20-minute sitting with him. “Yes, we did not discuss weather but exchanged views on the mounting border conflict between India and Pakistan.”
Professor Bhat said, “We both were against the two sides getting engaged in another war which could lead to large-scale death and devastation.” He said, “I do not believe that Mr Habibullah was on a political mission. We are friends and we came close during the Hazratbal crisis.”
However, the informed circles say if Mr Habibullah had no mission to perform, especially the one of peeping into the minds of the APHC leaders, he would not have met Mr Abdul Gani Lone, Mohammad Yasin Malik and other separatist leaders. Mr Habibullah had telephoned Mr Shabir Ahmed Shah, chief of the democratic Freedom Party, but the meeting could not take place in Srinagar as Mr Shah was to visit Poona. Reports said the two met in Delhi later.
Meanwhile, the moderates in the APHC are trying to persuade the hardliners, headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, to adopt soft postures towards the US Government. A senior APHC leader said, “Some differences with him have been ironed out while some still persist.”
Mr Geelani is yet to subscribe to the ideas floated by the moderates, especially the one by Mr Lone that foreign mercenaries should return to Pakistan and the local militants bid farewell to the gun as it had proved counter-productive.
These moderates have decided to take Mr Geelani with them to Delhi where they would meet senior functionaries of different embassies and diplomats, including the ones in the Pakistan High Commission. Reports said Mohammad Yasin Malik, JKLF chief, Mr Lone, chairman, People's Conference, and Mr Geelani of the Jamait-e-Islami would leave for Delhi within two days.
Gradually, the APHC leadership is trying to shed its hawkish attitude and is prepared to support bilateral talks between Delhi and Islamabad to break the ice and later genuine representatives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir could be allowed to participate in the dialogue for the settlement of the Kashmir issue.
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