Hizbul threatens to call off ceasefire

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, JULY 30. The Hizbul Mujahideen today threatened to review its decision on ceasefire in Kashmir if the Indian Government does not clarify the statement made by the National Security Advisor, Mr. Brajesh Mishra.

In a statement, the supreme commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, Syed Salahuddin, said his organisation was not prepared to accept any conditions for talks. ``If the Indian Government does not agree to hold talks without any conditions, we would be left with no option but to call off the ceasefire declaration,'' he said.

The outfit urged the Indian Government to clarify its stand on the comments made by Mr. Mishra in an interview to a private television channel. Mr. Mishra had said that talks with militants would be within the framework of the Constitution and ruled out involvement of Pakistan in the issue. ``Surely any representative of India cannot act outside the Constitution,'' he had said.

The Hizbul Mujahideen spokesman, Mr. Kalim Siddiqui, told The Hindu that his organisation could not be expected to take any initiative till the Indian Government cleared the `confusion' arising out of Mr. Mishra's statement.

The organisation would await a clarification from New Delhi before taking any step. On Saturday last, Hizbul leaders held consultations with other organisations engaged in the ``Kashmir struggle'' to formulate a strategy following India's offer for a dialogue.

In a related development, in an interview to the BBC, Mr. Salahuddin said his organisation would resume fighting if India did not respond positively to its offer.

``Today we have put our 12-year-old performance at stake and we have taken this bold decision because India has been making propaganda that it is prepared to resolve the Kashmir issue. In order to wash out this propaganda, we have provided this historic opportunity.

If India makes use of this, it is its own interest and it is in the interest of the people of the subcontinent,'' he has said.

On the adverse reaction of other militant outfits and the Jamaat- e-Islami, Mr. Salahuddin expressed regrets for not taking them into confidence and attributed it lack of time and communication gap.

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