Mirwaiz for trilateral dialogue on K-issue

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 1

Two days after the resignation of hard-line separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani from his own faction of the Hurriyat Conference, the moderate faction, led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, on Wednesday advocated trilateral talks among India, Pakistan and people of J&K to resolve the Kashmir issue peacefully.

It has brought a shift in its stance. Earlier it was a votary of triangular talks between Hurriyat-India, Pakistan-India and Hurriyat- Pakistan to iron out the differences among these parties before sitting on a joint table to address the K-issue.

The separatist camps push for the trilateral dialogue as an alternative to UN resolutions on Kashmir that Pakistan keeps harping on.

The APHC(M), considered as moderate among the separatist camps advocating dialogue route to resolve the K-issue, has come out with reiteration of its stand after a long gap since August last year.

Although the statement regarding the meeting of its executive members in Srinagar today doesn’t carry any reference to Geelani’s taunt to some of the separatist leaders for hobnobbing with Delhi, the statement is seen as a rebuff to the hard-line separatist leader.

This statement seems to be a rebuff to Geelani’s charges.

Mirwaiz, who is under house arrest, was not present in the meeting. However, two former chairpersons of the conglomerate, Abdul Gani Bhat and Moulvi Abbas Ansari, and Bilal Gani Lone of the People’s Conference were present.

Geelani on Monday had released a letter in which he had made unveiled references towards the doves seeking a deal with Delhi. The deal with Delhi is considered a bad phrase in Kashmir.

It also criticised the domicile policy and asked the government not to issue the domicile certificates to “outsiders” and warned that it could have “serious consequences” for the region.