Roundtable has become Hurriyat-centric : Bhim Singh

Jammu, May 20 (UNI) Alleging that the second round-table on Kashmir has become ''Hurriyat-centric'', Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) president Bhim Singh today said the Centre has ''ignored'' the Jammu region.

Prof Singh urged the Union government to involve refugees from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in the talks as they were the ''first and the natural party'' to the Kashmir issue.

Talking to newspersons, after holding talks with representatives of various political and apolitical outfits of Jammu region, Prof Singh said, ''The second round-table conference has become Hurriyat-centric. It is very surprising as Centre was giving more importance to the Hurriyat, whose representative character is not acceptable,'' he said.

He said about 12 lakh PoK refugees cannot be ignored and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should invite them to the round-table in Srinagar from May 24-25.

Joining issue, Rajiv Chuni, Chairman of SOS International, an organisation of refugees from PoK, said the second round-table once again exposed the ''unilateral approach'' adopted by the the Centre to deal with the Kashmir issue.

''It has wounded the feelings of over 12 lakh politically orphaned, socially and economically uprooted populace of the PoK refugees, who are the first and natural party to any solution of the Kashmir problem,'' Mr Chuni said.

Accusing the Congress for their problems, he said, ''The government has not learnt from past mistakes and once again was following the same approach.'' ''In this well planned and consistent neglect of this sub-ethnic group, three generations have been lost and the fourth is in the offing to face the brunt and humiliation.

''This unfortunate community was the first to face the onslaught of religious fanatics and barbarians led by Pakistani army in 1948 but nobody has come to their rescue for the last 58 years,'' he alleged.

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