Hizbul offer a 'gimmick', say Pak.-based groups

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, JULY 25. The Pakistan-based militant organisations operating in Kashmir have condemned the ceasefire offer made by the Hizbul-Mujahideen as a gimmick by `Indian stooges' and vowed to continue their `struggle for liberation' of the Kashmiris.

The announcement appears to have caught the organisations here by surprise and this was evident in their reactions. The Jamaat-e- Islami chief, Mr. Liaquat Baluch, called it a `surprise' but maintained that the Hizbul chief in Kashmir had no `authority' to make the offer.

Initially, there was confusion regarding the announcement by Mr. Abdul Majid Dar in Srinagar on Monday, as the Hizbul chief, Mr. Syed Salauddin, was not available for comments. But by evening the air was cleared when it was announced that the `commander' in Srinagar was acting on orders from the top.

That Mr. Dar had the blessings of the high command was further evident when the militant groups based in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-occupied Kashmir, met without any representation from the Hizbul and adopted a resolution condemning the offer.

Reports said the militant groups met under the aegis of the Mutahidda Jihad Council and decided to continue its support to``all the groups active in Jehad-e-Kashmir (holy war in Kashmir)''.

A Harkat-ul-Mujahideen representative told The Hindu in Islamabad that the announcement meant `nothing' and various groups fighting in Kashmir ``will not rest till it is liberated''.

The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief, Mr. Amanullah Khan, said the offer was ``ill-timed, ill-manoeuvred, against bitter lessons of the past and without proper homework''. He said it would only create further confusion on the Kashmir issue.

But, a Hizbul spokesman was quoted by the Urdu newspaper Jang as saying that the announcement was meant ``only to give time to India for talks''.

He said the offer was intended to send a message that the Kashmiri militant groups were interested in talks and that the truce was only part of their military strategy. A write-up in the Urdu daily, Ausaf, by its editor, Mr. Hamid Mir, sums up the reaction of the Pakistan organisations, saying ``soon after hearing the news, people of `occupied Kashmir' started contacting people in Pakistan and PoK on telephone.

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Section  : International
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