Mirwaiz lavishes praise on PM's honest response

Srinagar, May 18: Moderate Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today lavished praise on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying he responded ''honestly and positively'' to their proposals and expressed readiness to talk on any issue or suggestion.

''Our talks with the Prime Minister on May 3 were clear-cut.

But, I must tell you that he was also honest and positive in his response. The Prime Minister never said that we will not talk on this suggestion or that proposal put forward by the Hurriyat Conference,'' the Mirwaiz said at a seminar here.

Dr Singh asked the Hurriyat Conference to put forth its suggestions and proposals on which discussions would be held, he added.

Mirwaiz Farooq said the Hurriyat Conference will soon announce its mechanism to resolve the Kashmir issue. ''The Government of India will also announce its team for further discussions with the Hurriyat Conference shortly,'' he added.

The Hurriyat Chairman said the Prime Minister, in his written statement, addressed both the external and internal dimensions of the Kashmir issue.

''He talked about India-Pakistan dialogue as well. Dr Singh himself raised the issues which we wanted to. The Prime Minister said the internal issues such as human rights violations, disappearance, detenues, cases against people, black laws, improvement in situation, bunkers and barricades, need to be addressed,'' the Mirwaiz said.

About the external dimension, he said the Prime Minister understands that India needed a talk to both Pakistan and the leadership of Jammu and Kashmir.

Mirwaiz Farooq said India needed to address both the internal and external dimensions of the Kashmir issue.

''We strongly believe that the Kashmir issue has now come to the table from road. This is very a crucial juncture. When you are on roads, nobody takes you seriously...you can say whatever you want to, but once at a negotiating table...then you have to deliver,'' the Hurriyat Chairman said.

The seminar titled ''Kashmir Issue and Dialogue Process'' was organised as part of the week-long programme to mark the death anniversaries of assassinated leaders Mirwaiz Moulvi Mohammad Farooq and Abdul Ghani Lone.

On May 21, 1990, unidentified gunmen shot dead Mirwaiz of Kashmir Moulvi Mohammad Farooq, father of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, at his Nageen residence.

And on the same day in 2002, Peoples Conference chairman and senior Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Lone was assassinated at a rally to mark the 12th death anniversary of the former Mirwaiz at the Idgah ground in the old Srinagar city.

The moderate Hurriyat Conference has called for a general strike on May 21 to mark the day.

UNI