Right of self-determination for people only solution: Geelani

Jammu, Jan 18 (UNI) Breakaway Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani today said right of self-determination for people of Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) was the only solution of the Kashmir issue.

Talking to mediapersons here, Mr Geelani said the Kashmir issue was not a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan.

It was the issue of 1.30 crore people living in four regions of the two countries.

Mr Geelani said the people of the state would never forgive a person who went for a sell-out on Kashmir issue.

He said, ''Yesterday's response to strike has proved to the world at large that what the people of the state want and let there be no doubt about it. At the same time, it has given a firm message that no individual can decide about the future of the state without people's approval.'' The separatist leader dismissed the latest proposal on the Kashmir issue and termed as antithetical to the aspirations of the people of the state.

He said, ''self-rule, self-governance or autonomy are no solutions to the Kashmir issue and they are only being talked about to spread confusion among the people of the state. One must see the writing on the wall and call a spade a spade. People of the state want to exercise their democratic right to decide their future and anybody objecting to it has no right to call himself a democrat.'' Dismissing the India-Pakistan talks on Kashmir as an exercise in futility, Mr. Geelani said, ''ever since 1947, at least 130 times there have been various levels of dialogue between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. The net result of these talks has been zero and this is because of the fact that the people of the state have still to be accepted as party to the dispute. Let it be clear that the state of Jammu and Kashmir would remain in turmoil till the people of the state get their democratic right to decide about their future.'' On being asked about forthcoming meeting between Pakistan President Pervez Musharaff and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Mr. Geelani said, ''no two individuals can decide the destiny of the Kashmir issue as it affects the life of every individual living on both sides of Line of Control. Pakistan President may not be with us but the people of Pakistan are surely with us.'' UNI HGV PK MIR RAI1939