Says it won’t accept solution to Kashmir under either Indian or Pakistani statute
SRINAGAR: Fifteen years after its formation, separatist Hurriyat Conference finally decided to shun its Pakistan baggage on Tuesday and announced that “no solution to the Kashmir issue would be acceptable under Pakistani or Indian constitution”.
“We are not going to accept any status quo on Jammu and Kashmir. Be it on this part of Kashmir or azad Kashmir on the Pakistani side. We will not accept any solution under Pakistani or Indian constitution,” said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the moderate Hurriyat Conference.
The announcement is being regarded as a major shift in the stand of Hurriyat, regarded pro-Pakistan since its inception in 1993. Hurriyat has all along been demanding a solution outside the ambit of the Indian constitution while remaining silent on the Pakistani constitution.
Islamabad, on the other side, has been harping that Kashmir should be made a part of Pakistan under a pre-partition agreement. And most of the Hurriyat constituents have been supporting it overtly.
“We want either the UN resolution on Kashmir be implemented or tripartite talks involving the collective leadership of Kashmir, including leaders from the other side of the LoC and northern areas,” said Mirwaiz.
On Hurriyat’s support for Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s controversial formula, Mirwaiz said these were mere suggestions.
“We have a clause of tripartite dialogue in our constitution. Any party can give suggestions which would be discussed. Suggestions of the Ireland model and Dixon plan have also been made. But only that solution which is according to the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir would be accepted,” he said.
“We have never shied away from proving our representative character. But it should be held in an impartial referendum. We believe elections are for running administrative affairs, not for determining the representative character,” he added.
Significantly, Mirwaiz refused to commit that they will carry out any anti-election drive. “Elections are not on our agenda. We are currently focusing on restructuring and strengthening the Hurriyat Conference,” he said.
Mirwaiz said efforts were on to transform Hurriyat into a single party rather than a conglomerate. “There have been some suggestions in this regard. We want to have a single party which will have grassroots cadre in all the five regions — Jammu, Ladakh, Kashmir, azad Kashmir and northern areas,” he said.
h_ishfaq@dnaindia.net
