National

UN resolutions impracticable: Mirwaiz

By Praveen Swami

SRINAGAR, JAN. 9. A top All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader has told that most of the organisation does not believe "the United Nations resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir will be implemented." A senior APHC leader and Srinagar-based religious leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, said the APHC leaders who met the Pakistan military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, on the eve of the Agra summit had made this position known to him.

The Mirwaiz's remarks to mark a major change in the traditional secessionist position on Jammu and Kashmir Although several secessionist leaders have in the past called for a three-way dialogue between India, Pakistan and themselves, none has actually said the U.N. resolutions were impracticable. APHC centrists have for years taken a similar position on the U.N. resolutions in private conversation — but have never before gone public.

The U.N. resolutions, passed in the wake of the India-Pakistan war of 1947-1948, called for the people of Jammu and Kashmir to be able to choose between Statehood within India or Pakistan through a plebiscite. The resolutions could, however, never be realised because Pakistan refused to vacate the one-third of Jammu and Kashmir it controlled after the war. Pakistan subsequently further complicated the issue by ceding part of the territory it controlled to China.

The Mirwaiz's remarks also give some clues to the lines planned dialogue between the APHC and the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, might take. Earlier this week, the APHC chairperson, Maulvi Abbas Ansari, had created ripples by suggesting that the talks would begin only after January 26, and only if the invitation expressly stated that the objective of the dialogue would be the resolution of the status of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Mirwaiz, however, said that he saw no problem with the dialogue beginning immediately. "The Union Government," he said, "has already said that the talks will be unconditional, and centred on Kashmir. I do not see the need to make the text of letter an issue."

If nothing else, the Mirwaiz's position illustrates his determination to disregard coercion directed at the APHC moderates by the Jehadi groups.

These groups wish to ensure that Pakistan, rather than the APHC, dictates the pace and content of the dialogue. Last month, the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen directed its Kashmir valley commander, Ghulam Rasool Dar, to persuade the Jamaat-e-Islami and APHC centrists to garner support for the anti-dialogue Islamist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Mr. Dar, however, had little success with the Jamaat-e-Islami — and none, the Mirwaiz's remarks suggest, with the moderate leadership of the APHC.

Within the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, there is the fear that Jehadi groups may be marginalised once India-Pakistan and India-APHC dialogue gets underway.

Its Pakistan-based supreme commander, Mohammad Yusuf Shah, has attacked the recent India-Pakistan détente, saying it will help New Delhi "gain time, during which it would employ every possible resource to crush the freedom struggle in the occupied territories." The fact that Mr. Dar, rather than an emissary, took the considerable risk of making contact with overground leaders illustrates just how desperate the Hizb is to bring the secessionist flock together.

Other elements within the Hizb have also been attempting to make their peace with the political system. The Hizb central division commander, Abdul Rashid Pir, is believed to have had talks with top People's Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti. Mr. Pir, sources told , had also met a senior National Conference leader from central Kashmir, with substantial support among the Gujjar community.

While the content of these talks is not known, it is clear that they do not involve immunity. The central division commander is a major target of ongoing intelligence-led operations, and a senior Border Security Force official said Mr. Pir's elimination may be "just days or weeks away."

Mr. Pir's political forays, like those of Mr. Dar, may be intended to give the Hizb some post-terrorism leverage — while political parties could, in turn, be hoping to use its cadre if and when the dialogue process leads to new elections. On the ground, minor Hizb figures are engaged in making their own investments for the future.

Several sub-contractors engaged in construction work on the Baramulla-Qazigund stretch of the new trans-Jammu and Kashmir railway are known to have made protection payments to the local Hizb units. Others in the Hizb have chosen more direct means. Widespread extortion has been reported from several south Kashmir areas, notably Tral.

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