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Jethmalani slams Advani's refusal to meet Shabir Shah

New Delhi Sept. 1. In a scathing attack on the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, the Kashmir Committee (KC) chairman, Ram Jethmalani, today said that his refusal to meet the senior Kashmir separatist leader, Shabir Shah, was a move that had the potential of derailing the peace process.

Terming Mr. Advani's attitude "discouraging", the former Law Minister said, "It was a move which may have the consequence of derailing the peace process. Luckily, it has not happened as is clear from the statements of Shah and the Hurriyat." However, seeking to ignore the "unfriendly gesture" of Mr. Advani, he said, "Surely, the meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister was not the be-all and end-all of the peace process."

Mr. Jethmalani said that last year when K.C. Pant went to Kashmir, the Union Government issued a long statement devoting a whole paragraph to the Hurriyat.

"You (the Centre) wanted them (Hurriyat) last year, but why have you closed the door particularly after a change of scenario since September 11 and particularly after the Kashmir Committee has done so much of work in this regard? Obviously this kind of attitude is intended to derail the excellent work that is being done. It is a matter of great satisfaction that the desired effect of derailment has not taken place."

On the conflicting statements of Mr. Shah regarding his participation in the elections, made after he met the KC for nearly five hours spread over two days, Mr. Jethmalani said, "The misunderstanding was created because the statements were blown out of context."

`Hawks sabotaged efforts'

Sounding critical of the decision of the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and Mr. Advani not to meet him, Mr. Shah said hawks in the Central Government had sabotaged a "serious effort" to resolve the Kashmir issue.

"We have been neither against the democratic process nor are we scared of fighting elections. But mere change of government is not our motive, we want to resolve the Kashmir issue."

Mr. Shah said some of the "hawks in the Government had managed to put impediments not only in his path but also in the path of the Kashmir Committee, led by Ram Jethmalani, whom the Kashmiris see as their friends".

Mr. Shah said he had two rounds of talks over telephone with the chairman of Pakistan's Kashmir Committee, Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, and discussed the Kashmir issue threadbare.

PTI

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