Rejected dialogue offer by IB officer, claims Geelani

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 16

Separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani today claimed that an Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer offered him dialogue with New Delhi but he rejected the offer.

In a statement, Geelani said he rejected the offer of talks made by the IB officer and termed it “futile, nothing more than a tactic to buy time”.

Spokesman for the Geelani’s Hurriyat Conference GA Gulzar said the IB officer proposed dialogue between New Delhi and Geelani on Thursday night. “He (Geelani) refused to talk unless and until the Kashmir dispute is addressed in its historical perspective and asked India to acknowledge the disputed status of Kashmir and begin demilitarisation to hold a referendum,” Gulzar said. “Geelani made it clear that the Kashmir issue has turned into a flashpoint and unless India accepts its disputed nature, no progress is expected and the horrors of war will haunt people living in the subcontinent,” the spokesman said.