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Bhat warns of expulsion

Anybody violating party discipline will have to be ready to pay for it. We must not be mistaken as taking things lying down always. Expulsion from the party is a prerogative that always rests with us and if things come to such a pass, we shall not hesitate in taking the extreme step," said Professor Abdul Gani Bhat, chairman of the All Party Hurriyat Conference.

He was commenting on the controversy involving the separatist conglomerate after Syed Ali Geelani launched a frontal attack on another senior APHC leader, Abdul Gani Lone, of the People's Conference.

On why the fire brand Jamaat-e-Islami leader not invited to Monday's APHC executive meeting, he said, "We had assembled to discuss the recent statement of the Jamaat, which said that Kashmir was a political dispute and it was not proper to do so in the presence of Geelani."

He said, "It is not the question of Geelani or Lone; whosoever violates the party discipline shall have to explain his conduct."

He added that the APHC would quickly resolve the issue and refused to accept that there was any dispute within the party.

"Such things have happened in the past and we have resolved the issues amicably. This time too we shall resolve the matter."

Bhat added, "It is simply giving birth to controversy when we say Kashmir is a political or religious dispute. It is basically a dispute that concerns human beings and it must be resolved in that spirit."

On the recent statement of United Nations Secretary Gneral Kofi Annan, he said, "Annan's statement has to be weighed in the right perspective. He did not say that Kashmir is an integral part of India. He did not say that the UN resolutions on Kashmir were not valid. He simply said that the parties to the dispute were not facilitating implementation of the UN resolutions on Kashmir, which cannot otherwise be directly implemented by the world body. This is significant. Annan has sufficiently commented on the human aspect of the tragedy in Kashmir and also on the need to resolve the long-pending dispute."

Bhat stressed, "You have to be guided by sombre political realities and wisdom. The reality is that there is a dispute that has been claiming innocent human lives in Kashmir and wisdom is that this bloodshed must stop, but the resolution cannot be forced on us. It has to be in consonance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people."

He maintained that the peace edifice could not be built in the air. "It has to have a sound foundation and for that dialogue and discussion is most essential."

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