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Hurriyat team to visit Pak on Jan 15

The separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference on Thursday decided to send a high level delegation to Islamabad for talks with the Pakistani government and leaders of various militant groups active in Jammu and Kashmir.

A statement issued after the APHC meeting said, "The purpose of the visit is to initiate the political process by holding discussions with leaders of various militant groups active in Jammu and Kashmir."

"If the Indian government issues the necessary travel documents and clears our visit, the delegation will leave for Pakistan on January 15," APHC chairman Prof. Abdul Ghani Butt told rediff.com on Thursday evening.

The statement described the extension of the ceasefire and the subsequent partial withdrawal of Pakistani troops from the LoC in J&K as 'commendable'.

"The ceasefire extension by the Government of India and the withdrawal of Pakistani troops from the LoC is praiseworthy," the statement said. "This is a positive development which will finally lead to the resolution of the Kashmir dispute," it added.

Prof. Butt said that the APHC executive will finalise the names of the members who will visit Pakistan. "It will meet in the second week of January to finalise the names and other details about the visit," he said.

The decision to send the delegation to Pakistan was taken after a seven hour long meeting, which was attended by all the executive members of the APHC. The meeting was held at the residence of former APHC chairman and Mirwaiz of Kashmir Moulvi Omar Farooq.

During its stay in Pakistan, the delegation will also meet 'government representatives, leaders of various religious groups, human rights activists' and 'our boys with guns', Butt said.

"We will try to convince them about solving the problem politically," he said and hastened to add, "Their apprehensions are grounded in history. Their apprehension are to be dispelled."

"We will plead our case with the boys in the interest of peace and resolution of Kashmir problem permanently. India, Pakistan and all those involved have to make sacrifices to resolve the dispute once and for all."

He said, "Pakistan has taken positive steps towards normalising the situation and resolving once and for all the dispute about J&K, which bedevilled relations between the two neighbouring countries and in the past forced them to fight three wars."

"To banish the ghosts of atomic war, Pakistan, India will have to choose a path of peace. And for this, the Kashmir problem has to be resolved permanently," he added.

The APHC chairman reiterated that 'the Hurriyat is one' and 'there are no differences'. "We will take this struggle to its logical conclusion," he added.

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COMPLETE COVERAGE
Government initiated ceasefire in J&K

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