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Hurriyat seeks Pak help for meeting of two Kashmir Committees

Sumir Kaul New Delhi

An All-Parties Hurriyat Conference delegation led by chairman Abdul Gani Bhat on Monday visited the Pakistani high commission to 'seek its assistance' in arranging a meeting with Pakistan's Kashmir Committee headed by Sardar Abdul Qayyum.

"The meeting with Jethmalani's Kashmir Committee has been successful and we want a meeting between the two committees," Bhat said.

During his luncheon meeting with Pakistan high commission officials, Bhat apprised them of the Hurriyat's discussion with the Kashmir Committee.

Asked whether he was hopeful that efforts of the committee would help in finding a solution to the Kashmir issue, Bhat said, "Undoubtedly, the task is difficult and we have miles to go, but we have made an auspicious beginning."

Drawing his attention to the comments from Qayyum that any meeting between the two committees could be fixed only after the outcome of Hurriyat-Kashmir Committee meeting, Bhat said the joint declaration was in itself indicative that the talks were a success.

He lauded the efforts of the Jethmalani Committee, but expressed the fear that 'hawks within the government will try hard to sabotage the process of finding a peaceful resolution to the problem'.

Stating that it would not be meeting any other political leader in the government or opposition on the lines similar to that adopted by Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah, Bhat said, "We have the mandate of the general council of the amalgam to meet only Kashmir Committee and no one else."

Stating that the 23-party conglomerate was not averse to meeting anyone to find a lasting solution to Kashmir issue, Bhat said, "We have always maintained that we will be meeting the central leadership, but on a condition that the amalgam leadership would be allowed to visit Pakistan for meeting separatist leaders there and [representatives of] the Musharraf regime."

Bhat refused to be drawn into any controversy over suggestions from certain quarters about converting the Line of Control into the international border saying, "I don't answer hypothetical questions."

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