We are satisfied: Hurriyat leaders

By Shujaat Bukhari

NEW DELHI JULY 14. At a meeting with the leaders of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) today, the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, reiterated ``his full moral, diplomatic and political support to Kashmiris in their just struggle''. He was hopeful of initiating a solution to the Kashmir problem at the Agra summit.

Despite the disapproval of the Government and a boycott by the NDA, six APHC executive members led by its chairman, Prof. Abdul Gani Bhat, made it to the Pakistan House at Tilak Marg here.

The 20-minute meeting, which has evoked a controversy, took place prior to the reception in honour of the Pakistan President organised by the Pakistan High Commissioner, Mr. Ashraf Jehangir Qazi.

While the Jamat-e-Islami leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, stressed on a solution to Kashmir in accordance with the wishes of the people and U.N. resolutions, others - including Prof. Bhat, Mr. Abdul Gani Lone and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq - adopted a soft attitude stressing the need to establish peace in the region. Another executive member and JKLF chairman, Mr. Yaseen Malik, who is away in London, had announced a boycott of the meeting. Pakistan officials were trying to downplay the meeting, dismissing it as ``routine''. Later the APHC chairman described the meeting as ``good and positive''. Gen. Musharraf ``understands our point of view well... We are satisfied.''

Hurriyat leaders were hopeful that Gen. Musharraf would try hard to bring them into the dialogue on Kashmir at a later stage. ``We told him that the inclusion of Kashmiris in the dialogue process alone can pave the way for a solution,'' the former chairman of the APHC, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, said. The Hurriyat did not want to derail the summit and wished it a success.

Although Hurriyat leaders insisted that the meeting was ``satisfactory'', none of them seemed relaxed, suggesting that the meeting had not been entirely smooth. Hurriyat leaders said Gen. Musharraf had not proposed a solution to them.

Pak. support

The Pakistan Foreign Secretary, Mr. Inamul Haq, said the meeting between Gen. Musharraf and Hurriyat leaders was held in a cordial atmosphere, during which Gen. Musharraf reiterated his Government's full moral, diplomatic and political support to the ``just struggle of Kashmiris''. He said Pakistan would like to invite the Hurriyat to Pakistan, but much would depend on India's stand.

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