06-24-2005, 02:30 AM
Hurriyat may join electoral politics
Sidharth Mishra/ New Delhi
The All-Party Hurriyat Conference may join mainstream politics by participating in future elections in Jammu & Kashmir.
Leaders of Hurriyat moderate faction (L-R) Mohammad Abbas Ansari, chairman Mirwaiz Omer Farooq and Bilal Gani Lone during the joint meeting of executive general council and working committee at the partyâs headquarters in Srinagar on Wednesday - PTI
The Hurriyat leaders, during their proposed talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in all likelihood will express their desire to participate in the electoral process. However, their offer will come attached with the demand that an international body should monitor the polls.
Such a demand would be unacceptable to the Government of India that has not allowed international observers for any elections till now. During the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly elections in October 2002, the Government had allowed accredited foreign diplomats based in Delhi to travel to Jammu & Kashmir. But it has never allowed "foreign observers" or international monitoring of elections in Jammu & Kashmir or anywhere else in the country.
Speaking to mediapersons in Srinagar on Wednesday, Mirwaiz Omer Farooq, leader of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat, said that he and his colleagues want to talk to the Prime Minister and have asked the Union Government to schedule a date for their visit to New Delhi. This was the first media briefing by Mirwaiz Omer Farooq and other moderate leaders after their visit to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan.
In the past, Hurriyat leaders have not entertained Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's invitation for talks. Instead, they have insisted that talks with the Government over restoring peace in Jammu & Kashmir could be held only after they have had an interaction with Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf.
The Hurriyat leaders met Gen Musharraf during their recent visit to Pakistan. Sources said that Mirwaiz Omer Farooq made a three-point proposal to him for resolving the Jammu & Kashmir issue.
The Pakistani establishment, sources said, made it abundantly clear to the visiting Hurriyat leaders that given the current international scenario, it was difficult to push the agenda of a group "which does not have the mandate of the people".
Pakistan wanted to get some legitimacy for the Hurriyat in the eyes of the international community, the sources said. Pakistan realises that the best bet for the Hurriyat, having failed to lead a successful secessionist movement, is to join the electoral process.
While the Hurriyat leaders were in Pakistan, that country's Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri had publicly said that he could not force India's hand to make the separatist group part of the ongoing dialogue process. "It would be foolish of Pakistan to ask for Hurriyat's participation ignoring the claims of legitimate representatives of the Kashmiri people sitting in the Assembly and the Lok Sabha," sources added.
Mirwaiz Omer Farooq clarified in Srinagar on Wednesday that the Hurriyat was not seeking a seat across the negotiating table at this stage. "We have never demanded a seat in the India-Pakistan talks. We appreciate the forward movement in the dialogue process but believe the best possible mechanism is that talks between India and All-Party Hurriyat Conference should go ahead on one hand and talks between Hurriyat and Pakistan on the other," he said.
It may be recalled that Gen Musharraf, during his April visit to New Delhi, had made clear to the various Hurriyat factions that he wanted unity in the umbrella secessionist organisation. He had told the factions of Yasin Malik and Shabbir Shah that they should consider accepting the Mirwaiz as their leader.
During the Hurriyat leaders' visit to PoK and Pakistan, the Pakistani establishment made it clear that the Mirwaiz was the chosen one of Gen Musharraf. The Awami Action Committee leader's malleability is coming in handy for the Pakistanis.
During the visit, the Mirwaiz dropped all pretensions of being "pro-azadi" and constantly pitched a pro-Pakistan line. At Mohammed Ali Jinnah's mausoleum, the Mirwaiz wrote in the visitors' book that he wanted the Jammu & Kashmir issue to be resolved in accordance with the desire of the Quaid-e-Azam of Pakistan.
Mirwaiz Omer Farooq's move proved to be a red rag for Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yasin Malik, main proponent of the "azadi agenda". Sources said Malik spoke of Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed running a terrorist camp to embarrass the Pakistani leadership.
Sidharth Mishra/ New Delhi
The All-Party Hurriyat Conference may join mainstream politics by participating in future elections in Jammu & Kashmir.
Leaders of Hurriyat moderate faction (L-R) Mohammad Abbas Ansari, chairman Mirwaiz Omer Farooq and Bilal Gani Lone during the joint meeting of executive general council and working committee at the partyâs headquarters in Srinagar on Wednesday - PTI
The Hurriyat leaders, during their proposed talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in all likelihood will express their desire to participate in the electoral process. However, their offer will come attached with the demand that an international body should monitor the polls.
Such a demand would be unacceptable to the Government of India that has not allowed international observers for any elections till now. During the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly elections in October 2002, the Government had allowed accredited foreign diplomats based in Delhi to travel to Jammu & Kashmir. But it has never allowed "foreign observers" or international monitoring of elections in Jammu & Kashmir or anywhere else in the country.
Speaking to mediapersons in Srinagar on Wednesday, Mirwaiz Omer Farooq, leader of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat, said that he and his colleagues want to talk to the Prime Minister and have asked the Union Government to schedule a date for their visit to New Delhi. This was the first media briefing by Mirwaiz Omer Farooq and other moderate leaders after their visit to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan.
In the past, Hurriyat leaders have not entertained Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's invitation for talks. Instead, they have insisted that talks with the Government over restoring peace in Jammu & Kashmir could be held only after they have had an interaction with Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf.
The Hurriyat leaders met Gen Musharraf during their recent visit to Pakistan. Sources said that Mirwaiz Omer Farooq made a three-point proposal to him for resolving the Jammu & Kashmir issue.
The Pakistani establishment, sources said, made it abundantly clear to the visiting Hurriyat leaders that given the current international scenario, it was difficult to push the agenda of a group "which does not have the mandate of the people".
Pakistan wanted to get some legitimacy for the Hurriyat in the eyes of the international community, the sources said. Pakistan realises that the best bet for the Hurriyat, having failed to lead a successful secessionist movement, is to join the electoral process.
While the Hurriyat leaders were in Pakistan, that country's Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri had publicly said that he could not force India's hand to make the separatist group part of the ongoing dialogue process. "It would be foolish of Pakistan to ask for Hurriyat's participation ignoring the claims of legitimate representatives of the Kashmiri people sitting in the Assembly and the Lok Sabha," sources added.
Mirwaiz Omer Farooq clarified in Srinagar on Wednesday that the Hurriyat was not seeking a seat across the negotiating table at this stage. "We have never demanded a seat in the India-Pakistan talks. We appreciate the forward movement in the dialogue process but believe the best possible mechanism is that talks between India and All-Party Hurriyat Conference should go ahead on one hand and talks between Hurriyat and Pakistan on the other," he said.
It may be recalled that Gen Musharraf, during his April visit to New Delhi, had made clear to the various Hurriyat factions that he wanted unity in the umbrella secessionist organisation. He had told the factions of Yasin Malik and Shabbir Shah that they should consider accepting the Mirwaiz as their leader.
During the Hurriyat leaders' visit to PoK and Pakistan, the Pakistani establishment made it clear that the Mirwaiz was the chosen one of Gen Musharraf. The Awami Action Committee leader's malleability is coming in handy for the Pakistanis.
During the visit, the Mirwaiz dropped all pretensions of being "pro-azadi" and constantly pitched a pro-Pakistan line. At Mohammed Ali Jinnah's mausoleum, the Mirwaiz wrote in the visitors' book that he wanted the Jammu & Kashmir issue to be resolved in accordance with the desire of the Quaid-e-Azam of Pakistan.
Mirwaiz Omer Farooq's move proved to be a red rag for Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yasin Malik, main proponent of the "azadi agenda". Sources said Malik spoke of Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed running a terrorist camp to embarrass the Pakistani leadership.