JRL will take decision on the fresh invitation of talks by Delhi
Srinagar: The Hurriyat (G) led by octogenarian Syed Ali Geelani has said that the amalgam will decide about the dialogue with New Delhi only after due consultations with the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik.
“This time we have decided we will take a joint decision whether to hold dialogue with Delhi or not,” The Hurriyat (G) spokesman Gulzar Ahmad Gulzar told The Kashmir Press.
“In this connection, the JRL will hold a meeting in a day or two. In that meeting, we will discuss whether to respond to the dialogue offer made by Delhi or not”.
Asked whether Hurriyat (G) stands by its pre-condition that India has to first accept Kashmir as a dispute before any formal talks could be held, Gulzar said: “That it is our forum’s stated position. But, everything will depend on the outcome of the JRL meeting which will decide whether to move ahead or not”.
Addressing a conference, Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Geelani on Sunday had said that the Hurriyat would talk only when India accepts Kashmir as a dispute.
Geelani had also said that the five-point formula that the conglomerate had offered to New Delhi in 2010 should form the basis of any dialogue moving forward.
India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh had earlier said that the Government of India was ready to hold talks with the Hurriyat and Pakistan, “if the Hurriyat was ready to do so”.
“If Hurriyat is ready to come to the table for talks, we are ready for it. However, so far, there is no indication from them to this effect,” Mr. Singh had said.
“I have already said that we are ready for dialogue with all stakeholders in Kashmir. If Hurriyat comes forward for talks, we don’t mind talking to them. Whoever wants to talk with us, we are ready for talks.”
Hurriyat (M) Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said that resistance leadership will decide to respond to the dialogue offer after JRL meeting which is scheduled to be held on Tuesday
Earlier, in an affirmative tone, Mirwaiz had expressed his faction’s willingness to engage in a dialogue with Delhi on Kashmir.
Signalling the APHC’s pro-dialogue stance, the Srinagar-based head priest had sent out a couple of tweets:
“it (dialogue process) is long overdue that India & Pakistan allow the leadership of two divided parts of Kashmir including Gilgit-Baltistan, Ladakh, AJK and this part of J&K to meet with each other and decide on their future course of action regarding their destiny as such a step is of utmost” adding, in another tweet, that “importance for finding a resolution of Kashmir dispute acceptable to all parties most importantly to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Hurriyat leadership will extend its full support to every serious effort aimed at resolving Kashmir so that peace prevails and bloodshed stops.”
Jammu amd Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) led by Shabir Shah had also said that “If India is serious in talks it must engage all parties to the dispute.”
Meanwhile, a top source in the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) told The Kashmir Press “we expect everybody from Pakistan to Hurriyat and opposition National Conference to respond to New Delhi’s offer.”
“This time the dialogue offer has been made to both internal as well as external stakeholders, which gives it an entirely different orientation,” the source added.
Moreover, senior PDP leader and party’s vice president Sartaj Madni has urged both Pakistan as well as the Hurriyat to respond positively to the dialogue offer.
In a statement, Mr. Madni said that “involvement of Pakistan and Hurriyat in resolving the Kashmir problem can become a reality soon.”
Addressing a public gathering in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, the leader expressed hope that “both will respond to New Delhi’s offer and help relieve people of the subcontinent from agonies and suffering.”