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BJP against allowing Hurriyat leaders to visit Pak.

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI JUNE 20. The Bharatiya Janata Party today rejected outright the Hurriyat Conference proposal that its leaders be allowed to go to Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) to broker a ceasefire after talking to the Government here.

"The Hurriyat is welcome to talk to the Indian Government within the framework of the Indian Constitution, but going to Pakistan, that would be out of the question,'' the party general secretary and spokesperson, Sunil Shastri, said.

He also ruled out withdrawal of troops from the border till cross-border terrorism ceased totally.

The party line seems to be contrary to the view expressed by the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, who was reported from Srinagar as welcoming the Hurriyat proposal and describing it as a "good proposal'' that needed to be "considered''.

But the party made it clear that a similar proposal from the Hurriyat had been rejected by it earlier, and this second proposal also deserved "outright rejection.''

Mr. Shastri admitted that at one time the Government had considered allowing some Hurriyat leaders to travel to Pakistan — that was after the first ceasefire initiative taken by the Prime Minister — but pointed out that some others were not given passports. The Hurriyat was free to participate in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections later this year, but being allowed to talk to Pakistan was not to be considered. There was no room for tripartite talks on which the Hurriyat had been always keen.

As for the troops on the border, the party view was that till cessation of cross-border terrorism, till training camps in Pakistan and PoK were shut down, till Pakistan responded positively to Indian gestures towards normalisation (India has said it has lifted restrictions on overflights by Pakistani civilian aircraft), troops should not be withdrawn from the forward positions.

Mr. Shastri felt that the international community should continue to put pressure on Pakistan and even intensify this pressure to "ensure'' that all training camps were not just dispersed, but wound up.

In the recent stand-off between the two countries, Pakistan had gone to the extent of issuing nuclear blackmail — and it had to retract later — whereas India's nuclear policy was clear: no first use and no use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear countries.

As for yesterday's comment by the Presidential candidate, A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, that the possession of nuclear weapons had prevented a war, Mr. Shastri said, "that was his perception''.

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