ISLAMABAD: Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said the time has come to "redefine" meanings in the quest for a solution to the Kashmir problem in the context of the changed ground realities.

Speaking at a symposium, "Kashmir: looking towards the future," the emotionally-charged Mirwaiz said exploring options other than the U.N. resolutions on Kashmir did not amount to treachery. "For fear of being labelled treacherous should we sit at home and repeat the song of U.N. resolutions. One lakh people have already lost their lives. Should we wait for the sacrifice of another lakh people before we begin to look at other possible ways to resolve the issue," he asked.

The symposium was organised by the publishers of the Dawn group of newspapers in collaboration with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the Pakistan Peace Coalition and the Islamabad Council for World Affairs. Mr. Farooq said the Hurriyat delegation was returning to Jammu and Kashmir with a new "perspective" on the way to settling the Kashmir issue. "When we return to Kashmir, we need to redefine certain things... certain words and phrases."

In a veiled attack on Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the hard line Hurriyat leader, Mr. Farooq said there were people in Kashmir who considered talking to New Delhi as treachery. "Now we are being told that even visiting Pakistan amounted to treachery. It is high time the word treachery is re-defined."

A trilateral dialogue involving India, Pakistan and the Kashmiris would have been ideal for resolving the decades-old conflict but this was not acceptable to India. The Hurriyat could talk separately to India and Pakistan even as the two countries continued their talks.

Mr. Farooq said there was no need to hold any election to determine the "true representatives" of Kashmir and asserted that the Hurriyat reflected the "sentiments and aspirations" of the people of Kashmir.

The JKLF leader, Yasin Malik, said it was imperative to hold an election to determine who should represent Kashmiris in talks with India and Pakistan.

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