Hurriyat ambivalent on truce offer

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's announcement of a ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir during the month of Ramadan, starting Monday next, evoked an ambivalent response from the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.

APHC executive members held a closed door three-hour long meeting Tuesday which was presided over by the chairman of the separatist conglomerate, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat at the Hurriyat headquarters at Rajbagh.

"If it is hackneyed politics it does not appeal to us", said a Hurriyat statement after the meeting.

"However if the ceasefire declaration leads to the resumption of comprehensive dialogue, resolution of the Kashmir dispute, restoration of peace in south Asia and most important in relation to India and Pakistan then the offer on part of government of India is to be regarded as a positive change in attitude of Indian leadership in Delhi towards Kashmir", the APHC chairman Prof Abdul Gani Bhat said.

He said, "We want a comprehensive dialogue to be initiated involving the concerned parties with a view to achieving a breakthrough in the interest of peace, stability and bright future in the sub-continent".

"Moreover we do not want to go against a comprehensive peace process which is intended to banish the ghosts of nuclear war in south Asia."

"The path to peace passes through Kashmir and let us therefore rise to the occasion and resolve it".

In the statement the APHC urged India and Pakistan to facilitate their dialogue with both countries and the militant leadership for result oriented talks for solving the issue.

The statement said, "Kashmir is not an integral part of India or Pakistan. The future is yet to be decided".

The APHC chairman said, "The government has announced the ceasefire as a mark of respect for the fasting month of Ramadan but after Eid festival the combat operations will be resumed".

Meanwhile, another frontline militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammadi headed by Maulana Masood Azhar, who also was released in exchange for the passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane at Kandahar last year, has rejected the ceasefire offer and announced it will further intensify attacks during the holy fasting month. It urged the other outfits also to intensify their attacks.

The Al-Umar Mujaheedin, headed of Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar who also was released at Kandahar, while rejecting the offer said that the "Indian government should have consulted Pakistan before announcing the ceasefire. No move on Kashmir can be successful unless Pakistan is involved in it".

The Kashmir Mass Movement, a separatist organisation in a statement, said "The ceasefire politics will have no meaning unless sincere efforts efforts are made for resolving the Kashmir issue.

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