Date:09/09/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/09/09/stories/2002090904340100.htm

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KC, Hurriyat leaders for structured dialogue

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI Sept. 8. The Kashmir Committee (KC) and the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) today called for a ``structured dialogue'' among all parties concerned, including the people across the borders, to create conditions conducive for a solution to the Kashmir issue. A joint statement by the KC and the APHC said all parties must rise above their traditional positions, abandon extreme stands and show flexibility and realism to reach an acceptable, honourable and a durable solution.

After a meeting, M.J. Akbar, journalist and one of the members of the KC, told reporters that the ``KC supported the APHC's wish to pursue a dialogue for peace and a durable solution with Kashmiri political elements in Pakistan and with the Government of Pakistan''.

The APHC team at the meeting comprised its chairman, Abdul Gani Bhat, Sheikh Mohammed Ali, Javed Mir and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, while the KC delegation was led by the former Union Law Minister, Ram Jethmalani, and included Ashok Bhan, M.J. Akbar and Dilip Padgaonkar.

The Mirwaiz said ``the Hurriyat would continue with its poll boycott call as elections are a closed chapter for us. Elections in the past had failed to resolve the Kashmir issue''. Expressing happiness over the KC decision to meet Pakistan's Kashmir Committee, headed by Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, at a mutually convenient time and place, he said ``the venue could even be a third country''. He said ``it is indeed a step forward and the Hurriyat is also of the firm belief that besides government-to-government contact, there should be a people-to-people contact''.The Mirwaiz wanted the Indian and Pakistani Governments to take steps for achieving a durable solution. It was agreed that the strength of the solution lay in its acceptance by all parties. ``We believe that all the matters in the world need to be resolved by sitting across the table and there is no role for violence.''

Asked if the KC endorsed the proposal for converting the Line of Control into a border between India and Pakistan, he said ``we don't accept that. Kashmir is not a territorial dispute. We want the reunification of Kashmir and we don't want any further division of the State''. Mr. Akbar said New Delhi had made it clear that it was not against the process of holding talks but Islamabad needed to address certain issues, including an immediate end to infiltration. The KC and the APHC called on the Governments of India and Pakistan to make all efforts to create conditions for reducing border tensions.

Asked whether the two sides would continue to hold meetings, the Mirwaiz said the next date would be fixed either after the Assembly polls or after the end of the U.N. General Assembly session.