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Kashmiri leaders in Britain rubbish Hurriyat

Kashmiri groups now engaged in an international campaign for a settlement of the dispute in the Valley have condemned Hurriyat leaders as being unrepresentative of Kashmiri groups.

The meeting between Hurriyat leaders and Gen Musharraf has “no basis in law or in the politics of the day,” Shabir Chowdhry, leader of one of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front factions, told rediff.com Sunday.

“Hurriyat does not represent all sections of the Kashmiri people,” said Chowdhry, who owed allegiance to the JKLF group led by Amanullah Khan. “And on the other side, General Musharraf cannot claim to represent the people of Pakistan, let alone the people of Kashmir.”

The meeting between Musharraf and the Hurriyat leaders, at the official residence of Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Ashraf Jehangir Qazi on Saturday, was condemned by several other Kashmiri groups who have been leading an international campaign for the the rights of Kashmiri people.

These groups have built themselves up as a diplomatic spearhead to the movement, and have been lobbying the British and European parliaments over Kashmir. They have also been active in raising the Kashmir issue at the UN human rights meeting held annually in Geneva.

“Inviting Hurriyat leaders for a cup of tea is a joke,” said Chowdhry. “These leaders can wear their sherwanis and have their photographs taken with Musharraf, but all this will not resolve the Kashmir issue,” he said.

The leaders of the two countries can talk about the nuclear issue, about commerce, trade and other matters, Chowdhry said. “But neither Musharraf nor the Hurriyat have the mandate to talk about Kashmir.”

Khwaja Mushtaq Hussain, Europe president of the Jammu Kashmir National Liberation Front, said talks on Kashmir were “pointless without including Kashmiri leaders from the Pakistani side of Kashmir.” Several Kashmiri leaders in Gilgit and Baltistan and in the Muzaffarabad region have been campaigning strongly for freedom from Pakistani occupation.

“We believe that the talks should not under any circumstances be limited to Hurriyat leaders,” Hussain told rediff.com. “Talks can be meaningful only if they cover all regions of Kashmir, whether under Indian or Pakistani occupation.”

Zafar Khan, who represents another faction of the JKLF in Britain, said the most that Hurriyat can offer is “an opinion on Kashmir.” But the Hurriyat, he told rediff.com, “is not representative of the whole of Jammu and Kashmir.”

However, though he was quick to write off the Hurriyat, Zafar Khan did not agree with Shabir Chowdhry's view that Musharraf has no legitimacy. “At this moment he is the leader, and he has the authority and the power to speak for Pakistan,” Zafar Khan said.

This section of the JKLF believes also that the Hurriyat has “a role and a responsibility in Kashmir, and we welcome their talks with Gen Musharraf.”

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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