Militants reject Indo-Pak Havana declaration

Srinagar, Sept 19: Several militant groups and Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani have rejected the joint statement issued by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf after their meeting on September 16 on the margins of the NAM Summit in Havana.

The Hizbul Mujahideen, the single largest indigenous militant group, and the Jamait-ul-Mujahideen (JuM) said instead a time-frame should have been announced for resolution of the Kashmir issue.

Hizb spokesman Junaid-ul-Islam, in a statement to the local media, said those welcoming the Havana declaration were trying to mislead the people as nothing new had been said about Kashmir.

''Kashmiris will treat only such a statement authentic and productive that would give a time-frame for resolution of the Kashmir issue,'' he added.

In the statement, the Hizb spokesman said the two leaders have once again used the traditional verbiage and nothing was mentioned about the practical steps.

In a statement, JuM spokesman Jameel Ahmed said when the two leaders talk of joint mechanism to curb terrorism, it indicates that both are jointly planning to crush ''Kashmiri movement.'' However, he said Pakistan cannot control the ''Kashmir struggle'' as it was not under its control and similarly India's attempts to crush the ''movement'' would not succeed.

The JuM spokesman said Gen Musharraf should have pressed for a time-frame for resolution of the Kashmir issue.

Mr Geelani, who is the chairman of a faction of the Hurriyat Conference, rejected the declaration, saying many such statements had been issued in the past, but without any headway in resolving the Kashmir issue.

''Until the people of Jammu and Kashmir are not given their right to self-determination, such statements won't help,'' he added.

UNI