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Hurriyat to meet next week

The separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference executive is meeting early next week to take stock of the situation in Jammu & Kashmir, following announcement of the end of the ceasefire and the offer for talks with Pakistan, conglomerate chairman Prof Abdul Gani Bhat said on Thursday night.

"We will react after thorough discussions early next week," Bhat told this correspondent late on Thursday.

Bhat said, "We are waiting and watching and we will make a statement after the executive meeting."

The Hurriyat chief said, "No one can isolate the Hurriyat Conference. This is amusing that the Indian Home Minister [L K Advani] chooses not to know that a party to the dispute can never pass for a mediator."

"Advani knows that Kashmir is a dispute which needs to be resolved. It is not an issue of development, welfare or security."

"These issues will come up only after the future is settled. These issues are absolutely irrelevant."

Commenting on Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's decision to invite Pakistan chief executive Gen Pervez Musharraf for talks, firebrand Jamaat Islami leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani said, "If the intention of the Indian government is to invite Musharraf to honestly resolve the Kashmir dispute in its historic perspective, then I welcome the decision and see it as a very positive development."

"It is a positive development in light of the fact that till yesterday India didn't recognise Pakistan as a party to the dispute in Kashmir."

"There is only one dispute between India and Pakistan and that is Kashmir. The rest are peripheral issues and once Kashmir is resolved other problems will get resolved automatically," Geelani added.

Supreme commander of the frontline Hizbul Mujahideen Syed Salah-Ud-Din said, "No ceasefire existed on the ground. This was just to deceive the international community."

"The suffering of the local people continued despite the announcement of the ceasefire and custodial killings, searches continued during the period without a break."

The HM chief said that bilateral talks and agreements have failed so far to resolve the issue. The problem can only be resolved through tripartite talks involving India, Pakistan and people of Kashmir."

His deputy Abdul Majeed Dar, in a statement, said that various militant groups had rejected the ceasefire and the security forces too continued with operations against militants.

"We cannot ignore Pakistan, which is a party to the dispute," Dar added.

"We had rejected the ceasefire and we will continue our struggle till we achieve our goal," said Maulana Farooq of the frontline Harkatul Mujahideen.

The Kashmir Cease-Fire: The Complete Coverage

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