The Hindu : Hardliners, militants criticise Advani-Hurriyat talks

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 25, 2004

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Hardliners, militants criticise Advani-Hurriyat talks

By Shujaat Bukhari

JAMMU, JAN. 24 . Hardliners in the separatist political camp and militants have criticised the Ansari-led Hurriyat Conference for holding talks with New Delhi, stating that it was a "futile exercise."

They have called for a bandh on January 26 in protest.

The chairman of the breakaway faction of the Hurriyat, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, dubbing the talks futile, criticised the Hurriyat for referring to the "freedom movement as violence."

Mr. Geelani said: "Ours is the freedom struggle and no one has the right to refer to it as violence. Those who are talking with the Indian leaders today have been ousted from the Hurriyat and they have no right to claim themselves as the representatives of the people."

He said if the Hurriyat team was eager to shake hands with the Indian leaders, they should have waited for the India-Pakistan dialogue scheduled to be held in February.

"We are not against the dialogue but want tripartite talks'' he said.

The Shura-e-Jihad, a conglomerate of militant organisations, in a statement described the talks as "a dirty political game which New Delhi is repeating" and warned "self-styled politicians" against issuing positive statements.

"One lakh martyrs of Jammu and Kashmir have not sacrificed their lives in a futile fight'', the statement said, and asked the Central Government to "accept Kashmir as a disputed territory and show sincerity towards the matter rather than create confusion in the State."

The Al-Umar Mujahideen's "supreme commander" Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar, also opposed the Advani-Hurriyat talks and said the Hurriyat would achieve nothing.

The Centre, Mr. Zargar said, was "never sincere about Kashmir."

The Awami Action Committee (AAC), headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, described the talks as historical and significant.

"This is a welcome development and a very serious effort to find the solution of the Kashmir dispute," it said.

The Democratic Freedom Movement (DFM) president, Shabir Shah, described the joint communiqué issued after the talks as ambiguous and said the Hurriyat leaders had not revealed what transpired at the two-hour long meeting.

The Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen described the Ansari-led Hurriyat as "protégés of the Indian Government."

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