The Hindu : National : Mirwaiz refuses to take over as interim chief

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Friday, Jul 09, 2004

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National

Mirwaiz refuses to take over as interim chief

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR, JULY 8. A day after the All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman, Moulana Abbas Ansari, stepped down and appointed Mirwaiz Umar Farooq as the interim chairman, the Mirwaiz refused to accept the position but said he would push forward the unity efforts between the two factions.

The Mirwaiz, who is also the founder-chairman of the Hurriyat, said here that he would not take over as interim chairman. "There has been some misunderstanding. ... I will not function as interim chairman of the Hurriyat," he said confirming that he had been asked to renew the reconciliatory efforts with those members of the executive committee who had stayed away since the split in the Hurriyat Conference last year.

"My responsibility would be to talk to all the members of the erstwhile undivided Hurriyat so that the constitutional shape of the body is restored," the Mirwaiz said adding, "There will be no interim chairman of the Hurriyat. Fresh elections would be held once the executive council takes its original shape."

The Mirwaiz' refusal to head the Hurriyat has thrown the amalgam into yet another crisis. This, observers say, will have a larger impact on the process of dialogue between the Hurriyat and New Delhi and is likely to affect the prospects of the third round of talks slated for this month.

The Hurriyat, before its split in September last year, had seven executive members from the Awami Action Committee, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, the Jamaat-e-Islami, the People's League, the People's Conference, the Ittehadul Muslimeen and the Muslim Conference. After the split, the JEI representative, Syed Ali Geelani, formed another group with the support of the general council members. However, the PL and the JKLF stayed away from both the factions.

Syed Geelani, head of the hard-line faction of the Hurriyat, dismissed the developments as "their own issue. We have nothing to do with it."

Syed Geelani said he had nothing personal against Mr. Ansari when the no-confidence motion was moved against him in September last.

"Our differences with them (Ansari group) are ideological not personal. We're not against any individual at all. ... If they accept in public that they have taken wrong decisions at different times we will discuss it in our general council and accordingly take a decision," he told The Hindu .

"They have to explain their position threadbare,"he said.

He said that his doors were open to anyone vis-à-vis the unity moves, but he would discuss these moves strictly according to the Hurriyat constitution.

He was already engaged in parleys with the Ittehaadi Force. "I have conveyed to them (Ittehaadi Force) unambiguously to join us. There has not been any positive response from them as yet and we should not be blamed for it."

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