Hurriyat draws road map to J-K peace for Govt

Hurriyat draws road map to J-K peace for Govt
MUZAMIL JALEEL

SRINAGAR, DECEMBER 18: In a significant development, Hurriyat Chairman Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, today drew a road map for the Government to take its peace initiative forward, just a day after the Hurriyat executive met in Srinagar. He was speaking to The Indian Express in an exclusive interview.

Describing Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's unilateral cease-fire as adeclaration of an intention to address the issue and restore peace, Bhat said the next immediate step should be the release of a sizeable number of jailed militants followed by extension of the cease-fire beyond Ramzan and a halt to human rights violations.

Bhat said they had repeated their demand that they (Hurriyat) should be allowed to visit Pakistan to speak to ``our boys with the guns'' and convince them to give peace a chance. ``If allowed, we will go in a group or as a whole and talk to our boys with the guns. If they agree to give peace a chance, brushing aside all the apprehensions about the real motives behind Prime Minister Vajpayee's unilateral cease-fire, it will definitely generate a propitious atmosphere for a political dialogue,'' he said. ``And if we fail to convince them, still we will return with contentment that at least an effort was made.''

Bhat said all the parties -- India, Pakistan and the Kashmiris -- had only two paths to choose from: one would lead to complete disaster and the other to the resolution of disputes and thus peace and prosperity. ``The path to peace for the entire sub-continent and even beyond that passes through Kashmir. All of us have to accept two main things -- address the issue which constitutes a threat to peace and that all the parties to the issue have to be involved in any process for a permanent resolution,'' he said.

Bhat said he was not in favour of militancy coming to an end. ``If all of us come to the table to break the ice, India and Pakistan will want to speak from a position of strength because both are nuclear powers. What will be our point of strength? Slogans or principles, despite knowing that principles don't apply in politics,'' he said. ``Our only point of strength will be our boys with the guns and we would speak with the strength of the roar of the gun.''

The Hurriyat Chairman, whose pro-Pakistan Muslim Conference's workers participated in yesterday's clash outside the party office, in which sixpersons were injured, claimed there was no division within the conglomerate on policy issues. ``We always resolve our differences through deliberations and rise one and united,'' Bhat said.

Fissures had surfaced within the separatist conglomerate recently, dividing the seven executive leaders into two camps. Bhat accepted that the leadership had a difference of opinion on issues because they belong to different ideological groups.

Bhat rejected the possibility of any further expansion in the executive council of the Hurriyat. ``There is no room for any expansion in the existing seven-member executive council at all and the Hurriyat constitution is absolutely clear about it,'' he said. There have been demands from various general body members for an expansion in the core executive council.