Separatists puncture round-table balloon yet again

Srinagar, May 22 (UNI) The separatists have once again rejected repeated pleas from various quarters to join the round-table conference called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek views from all shades of opinion at a common forum for resolving the contentious Kashmir issue.

Prominent separatist groups such as both the hardline and moderate factions of the Hurriyat Conference, the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) and the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) have all declined to attend the round-table here on May 24-25.

They had earlier refused to participate in the first conference held three months ago in New Delhi on February 25.

Significantly, the moderate Hurriyat Conference, the JKLF and the People's Conference have already held separate talks with Dr Singh.

Earlier, four militant groups had threatened to ''attack and sabotage'' the round-table and warned the separatists of ''dire consequences'' if they attend the conference.

The first to announce non-participation and render a major blow to the Prime Minister's initiative was breakaway Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

Rejecting the Centre's invite to participate in the second round-table conference on Kashmir, Mr Geelani termed the meet a ''meaningless and futile exercise''.

The hardline separatist leader has also called for a general strike and appealed to the people to hold massive protests and demonstrations on both the days across Jammu and Kashmir to register their dissent and disapproval of such conferences.

The offer was then spurned by JKLF Chairman Yasin Malik who said that he had already decided not to participate in the conference.

Talking to UNI here, Malik said he had rejected the invitation to attend the first round-table in New Delhi on February 25. ''There is no change in my stand,'' he added.

However, the initiative suffered a major setback when the moderate Hurriyat Conference rejected the invitation to participate in the round-table conference, saying it does not want to join ''a crowd of political hypocrites and renegades''.

Announcing the decision at a crowded news conference here, moderate Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, however, said the amalgam leaders would like to meet the Prime Minister separately during his two-day visit to Kashmir.

''We would like to seize the opportunity of the Prime Minister's visit to Kashmir. If Dr Singh agrees, we would like to meet and talk to him separately in Srinagar as well,'' he added.

The Mirwaiz said the separatist amalgam has unanimously decided not to attend the round-table as it had no agenda and would hardly produce results vis-a-vis the resolution of the vexed Kashmir issue.

''We do not want to be a part of the crowd of political hypocrites and Ikhwanis (surrendered militants),'' he added.

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