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Basharat Peer in New Delhi
Scotching reports of the 'imminent exit' of the People's Conference from the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference, Bilal Lone, the party's representative to the separatist amalgam, told rediff.com: "Neither are we going to break away from the Hurriyat nor are we trying to weaken it. Hurriyat's strength is our honour."
However, the elder son of the slain separatist leader Abdul Gani Lone was critical of the 'boardroom style politics' of the forum. Instead, he wants the outfit to 'reach out to the people and solve their problems'.
"Hurriyat is a political platform and we want it to act like one. The Hurriyat leadership should come out of the office, help the suffering people, give them a political direction and not just issue press statements," he added.
"No armyman or policeman stops and frisks me on the road, but the common man has to suffer. Everyday, somebody's son is being picked up, someone is being tortured by the Special Task Force. We need to go to these people and try to help them in some way," Bilal said.
Further enumerating the problems, he talked about the need for better civic facilities in the villages and the unemployment.
Asked what could he as a separatist politician do about it, he said, "They are administrative problems, but they are the problems of our society. We cannot get people jobs, but we can facilitate. Azadi remains the ultimate goal but in the process we cannot neglect the day-to-day problems of the people."
Although, these statements are quite akin to that of a politician preparing for the electoral battle, he insists otherwise. " But do not link all this with the election. The election is only for an extension of the National Conference rule. We want the solution of the Kashmir issue."
Interestingly, Sajad Lone on Saturday had favoured participation in the election, if the government would enter into a dialogue about the resolution of the Kashmir issue with the elected representatives.
Sources within People's Conference, however, said the party had launched a huge membership drive and printed more than 100,000 membership cards in Delhi with a view to give the outfit a 'mass-based party' image and emerge as a separate force, away from the Hurriyat.
"We have stopped the membership drive as it would have sent wrong signals on the eve of elections," Bilal Lone, however, clarified.
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