The Hindu : Mufti hopeful of Centre-Hizb talks

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 10, 2004

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Mufti hopeful of Centre-Hizb talks

By Luv Puri

JAMMU, JAN. 9. The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, envisages a channel of communication being opened between the Union Government and the Hizb-ul Mujahideen, the main indigenous militant outfit active in the State, with the final aim of curbing the gun culture in the State.

In an hour-long interview to here this morning, the Mufti said: "Rapid changes are taking place at various levels and there are chances of a new dialogue process being extended to the Hizb-ul Mujahideen, one of the main indigenous groups in the State. In the past, there was truce with the Hizb in completely different circumstances. And, now, when the situation has vastly moved towards peace, I do not see any reason why a dialogue process cannot start."

The Mufti said there was hardly any scope for a dialogue with the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Jaish-e-Mohammad and other extremist organisations due to their rigid ideology.

"Let us be practical in this regard," he said. Most of the top leadership of these extremist organisations were not residents of Jammu and Kashmir.

"I firmly believe there is scope for engaging the local militants among the Hizb cadre in a dialogue process, as they are no more getting support from the people who have been disillusioned with the gun culture."

Asked whether an interlocutor would be appointed to start a Hizb-centric process of dialogue, the Mufti said the modalities could be worked out and there would not be any difficulty once the process was initiated.

He hailed the détente between India and Pakistan as historic. The only parallel with the present process was that of the Swaran Singh-Zulfikar Ali Bhutto talks in 1962-63 during the Nehru era, but there was a marked difference now.

The earlier talks, he said, had been held under Anglo-American pressure. Now the ``initiative was taken by the political leadership of the two countries, supported by a popular urge for peace among the masses."

The Mufti saw a "definite change" in the mood of the Pakistan establishment due to the internal dynamics at work. Giving credit to the people of Jammu and Kashmir for the turnaround in India-Pakistan ties, the Mufti said: "The people's yearning for peace went a long way in sending a message across the border that bloodshed should come to an end."

Asked whether the people of J&K were disillusioned with Pakistan, he said: "People are fed up with the cult of violence and the naked dance of death. The gun is irrelevant in any situation and the same holds good for the State."

Pointing to the positive fallout of the improvement of India-Pakistan relations, he said this would have a "soothing effect" on the Advani-Hurriyat talks, which could start anytime now. "If India and Pakistan can strike a common ground on a number of issues, why cannot the separatist groups do similarly with the Central Government," he asked.

To a question whether he felt vindicated after his unequivocal stand on the accession of the State with India, the Mufti said: "Definitely. Only a flowering democracy like India can accommodate the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The parrot-like repetition of atut ang (integral part) and Pakistan-bashing do not serve any purpose and what is needed is an emotional integration of the people of the state with the rest of the country and this is happening."

On the opening of the Uri-Muzaffarabad and Jammu-Sialkot roads networks, he said, "Inshallah (God willing), the time is not far off when divided families on both sides of the Line of Control can meet each other. For the time being, I will send a proposal to the Central Government to allow divided families to meet at some pre-designated points on the LoC, without crossing to the other side which requires a number of formalities yet to be settled. I hope this will meet a ready response from Pakistan."

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