Hurriyat leaders invited for tea party

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 9. The chairman of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference, Prof. Abdul Gani Bhat, met the Pakistan High Commissioner, Mr. Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, last evening. After the meeting, the APHC leaders confirmed having received an invitation to attend a tea party the High Commissioner is hosting for the visiting Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, on July 14.

The Hurriyat leaders are maintaining that the invitation was in response to the letter Prof. Bhat had written, both to Gen. Musharraf and the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, for an audience during the summit. ``We can meet Gen. Musharraf at the time of the high tea or meet him separately one- on-one,'' Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told The Hindu. The Mirwaiz arrived here this morning.

Mr. Qazi's invitation is for all the seven members of the Hurriyat executive. Of these, four are already in town - Prof. Bhat, the Mirwaiz, Mr. Lone and Sheikh Aziz. However, it is believed that Mr. Lone would be travelling back to Srinagar, and would come back only if there was a possibility of putting in an appearance at the party.

It is also believed that given the rather categorical displeasure expressed by the Foreign Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, the Pakistani side itself may advise the Hurriyat leaders to go back to Srinagar after meeting visiting Pakistani journalists, who are likely to start congregating here by July 12.

UNI reports:

``We are happy and expect India to respond positively to our communication so that all of us go in the right direction,'' Prof. Bhat said.

``Those who try to create a storm over a cup of tea should rather taste the sweetness of sugar in it,'' he said in a pointed reference to major political parties, which have threatened to boycott the tea party if the Hurriyat is invited.

``We should never consider cups of tea as constituting a problem...There are much bigger things at stake,'' he added.

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