Hurriyat meeting to discuss agenda for talks

Srinagar, Apr 30: The moderate Hurriyat Conference will meet tomorrow to decide about the composition of the high-profile amalgam delegation that would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 3 and also discuss the agenda for talks.

All the members of the Executive Council, the highest decision- making body of the Hurriyat Conference, the Working Committee and the General Council have been summoned at the amalgam headquarters at Raj Bagh here tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, the Hurriyat sources told sources that the delegation would comprise the same five moderate amalgam leaders who had held the first round of talks with the Prime Minister.

Besides moderate Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, Maulana Abbas Ansari, Bilal Ghani Lone and Fazal Haq Qureshi had met Dr Singh in New Delhi on September 5 last year.

The sources said the same delegation would again meet the Prime Minister on May three.

However, they said two more senior Hurriyat leaders, Nayeem Ahmed Khan, who is the Chairman of the National Front, and Aga Syed Hassan, the head of the Anjuman-e-Shara-i-Shian, would also press for their inclusion in the high-profile delegation.

Talking to sources after receiving and accepting the invitation, the Mirwaiz termed as ''good and appropriate'' the Prime Minister's decision to meet the separatist amalgam leaders on May 3.

''It is a good and appropriate decision. The main problem is between New Delhi and the Hurriyat Conference. Therefore, New Delhi should hold talks with the separatists only,'' the Mirwaiz said.

He said the second round of talks with the Prime Minister would be in continuation of the ''triangular dialogue process'' between India, Pakistan and the Hurriyat Conference.

''We will put forth our views at the meeting and review the progress made on the matters that had been raised in our first round of talks with the Prime Minister in September last year,'' the Hurriyat Chairman said.

The Mirwaiz said the Hurriyat leaders have met the Pakistani leadership, including President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, several times after last year's talks with Dr Singh. ''At the meeting, we will also discuss the outcome of our talks with the Pakistani leadership,'' Mirwaiz Farooq added. Speaking at a seminar here yesterday, he said at the talks with the Prime Minister the Hurriyat leaders would demand an end to the alleged human rights violations in the state and a change in the overall ground situation besides stress on carrying forward the ongoing dialogue process.

The Mirwaiz said various other proposals such as self-governance, demilitarisation and self-rule would also be discussed besides press for release of detainees from various jails in the country.

''It is the turn of India now to show flexibility in its stand on the Kashmir issue as Pakistan and the separatist leadership have already done so. It is also the need of the hour to continue the dialogue process for finding a lasting solution to the vexed Kashmir issue,'' he added.

The Hurriyat Chairman said India should be ''realistic'' and come out of the ''straitjacket of the status quo''.

''Status quo is not acceptable...it needs to be changed. A solution to the Kashmir issue as per division and demarcation of lines will not be acceptable,'' he added.

The Mirwaiz asserted that regional aspiration of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir should be kept in mind while finding a solution to the long-festering problem.

It will be ''too premature'' to have a final settlement of the Kashmir issue, he said, adding the solution would come only in a phased manner.

Mirwaiz Farooq said ''primary interests are economy driven'' and any solution to the Kashmir issue should lead towards the economic development of the state.

He also urged all the parties to put aside their differences in the interest of the nation and join the Hurriyat Conference.

The Mirwaiz said talks with New Delhi would not be ''behind the screens''. ''We have no vested interests in the talks. We want that everyone should contribute towards the solution if they have that sense,'' he added.

The meeting between the Prime Minister and the moderate Hurriyat Conference in New Delhi on May three, to be held seven months after their first round of talks on September 5 last year, will play a ''crucial'' role in the separatist amalgam's decision to attend the May 25 round-table in Srinagar.

UNI