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Passports to all or none will go to Pakistan: Hurriyat leader

Senior Hurriyat Conference leader and president of the Ittehadul Muslimeen, Maulana Mohammad Abbas Ansari, has said that the 23-party separatist alliance will not make the trip to Pakistan if the Centre refuses to issue passports to all members of its executive council.

"Going to Pakistan does not make any sense if any one of the seven members of the executive council, the highest decision-making body of the Hurriyat, is denied travel documents," Ansari told an Eid Milan organised by his party in Srinagar on Friday.

He said the Hurriyat would like to see New Delhi initiate a sincere political process for settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir issue.

He said that during the proposed Pakistan trip, Hurriyat leaders would persuade the militant leadership to accept a comprehensive ceasefire if "India initiates steps for a final and meaningful settlement of the Kashmir dispute".

Referring to J&K Democratic Freedom Party president Shabir Ahmad Shah, who was suspended from the Hurriyat two years ago, Ansari said that though it was difficult to merge the identities of all the Hurriyat constituents, the alliance would welcome Shah's return to the fold.

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Government-initiated ceasefire in J&K

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