NC wants Hizb in round-table, talks for JK resolution

Srinagar, Apr 17: The National Conference, the main opposition political party in Jammu and Kashmir, has stepped up efforts to get the Hizbul Mujahideen, the single largest indigenous militant group active in the state, involved in the ongoing dialogue process.

''I urge New Delhi to invite the Hizb to the third round-table conference on Kashmir. I will urge the Centre to talk to the Hizb, and also tell them that any round-table is futile without its participation,'' NC president Omar Abdullah said at a public meeting in a south Kashmir village of Kapran, about 90 km from here.

Describing the Hizbul Mujahideen as the only local outfit and the leader of all militant groups, he said no solution to the Kashmir issue was possible without its involvement in the dialogue process.

''An amicable and lasting solution to the vexed Kashmir issue is possible only after bringing the Hizb on the negotiating table.'' Mr Abdullah cautioned the people about the demilitarisation and self-rule slogans being given by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying these were not the real issues at all.

''Omar Abdullah or Mufti Mohammad Sayeed or Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cannot decide about demilitarisation at their individual level. It has to be done by the United Jehad Council, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Singh collectively,'' the NC chief added.

He said the NC brought the Hizbul Mujahideen on the negotiating table in 2000. ''But the dialogue process was sabotaged and all the five Hizb commanders were killed in a planned manner.'' Mr Abdullah appealed to the Hurriyat Conference to participate in third round-table conference in New Delhi on April 24.

He also sought a ''truth and reconciliation commission'' so that everybody was scanned. ''Be it the Army or militants or the police, everything will be open about them,'' Mr Abdullah added.

He said there were protests and rallies, demanding whereabouts of the missing people in the Kashmir valley. ''It has to be seen what happened to those and can be ascertained only through investigation by the commission,'' the NC president added.

Mr Abdullah said there had been hundreds of magisterial probes, but no one has been given any justice till date.

The NC president also lashed out at the PDP for its healing touch policy. ''The Special Operation Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir police recently gave the poor people of Kokernag and Banihal a healing touch,'' he added.

UNI

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