|
Pakistanis and Kashmiris Discuss Musharraf's India Visit
SRINAGAR, India, June 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Kashmir's main separatist alliance held a crucial executive meeting here Monday to discuss the group's possible role in next month's peace summit between the leaders of India and Pakistan. Meanwhile, Pakistani leaders in the U.S. warned that their countrymen would not tolerate mistakes over Kashmir by President Pervez Musarraf.
Five of members of the Hurriyat's seven-member executive committee were able to attend the meeting, including hardliner Syed Shah Geelani. The Hurriyat represents some two- dozen Kashmiri separatist and political organizations.
Hurriyat Chairman, Abdul Gani Bhat, said afterwards that the summit had been discussed against the backdrop of two letters sent by the alliance's leadership requesting meetings with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
"The discussions were held in a positive frame of mind. But it was felt that until a response from Pakistan and India reaches the Hurriyat headquarters, it would not be proper to work out a strategy," Bhat said.
India has so far rejected all Hurriyat requests to be involved in Musharraf's June 14-16 visit to India.
The Hurriyat letters - sent last week - had argued that Hurriyat participation would help translate the summit process "into a purposeful political exercise."
Geelani had criticized the content of the letters, complaining he was not consulted before they were sent, but Bhat brushed aside questions about a rift in the Hurriyat executive body.
"The members of the Hurriyat realize that it is not in the interest of the people to break away from the united forum," Bhat said.
"There are differences; no doubt about that. But let us not forget the differences existed even when this forum was brought into existence."
Musharraf has already invited Pakistan-based Hurriyat representatives for a meeting and consultations prior to the summit. Scheduled for Thursday, the meeting will also be attended by leaders of the Kashmiri community residing in the United States and Britain, officials said.
The summit will be the first, after a two-year freeze in official contacts between Pakistan and India, since a bloody border conflict in Kashmir's Kargil region in mid-1998.
Musharraf expressed a cautious sense of optimism about the summit: "South Asia must come out of its pit of poverty and learn to live in peace and harmony. It is in this spirit that I have accepted the invitation of the Indian Prime Minister," Musharraf said Monday. "I am going there with a cautious optimism."
Musharraf also raised the issue of nuclear power, which has been another cause of tension between the South Asian neighbors. India and Pakistan conducted tit-for-tat nuclear tests in May 1998.
He said Pakistan had no aggressive ambitions regarding its nuclear status, but thatthe country would not compromise its defense capabilities.
Musharraf, who rose to power in a military coup in October 1999, has capped Pakistan's defense budget despite a hike in India's military spendings in recent years.
His ascent and his actions, while met with little resistance by the Pakistani population, have nevertheless been watched closely by the people.
At a public meeting organized by Islamic groups in Chicago Sunday, the Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Professor Munawwar Hassan, warned that Pakistanis would not tolerate any "mistake" on part of President Musharraf when he visits India on July 14th.
"Any compromise on Pakistan's stand relating to Kashmir will not be tolerated," Hassan said. "If President Musharraf does anything detrimental to the Kashmir cause, he will be the only one to face the consequences. 'General Sahib' is well advised to stay in India and not return to Pakistan in that case."
Hassan added that the Jamaat-e-Islami, an influential Islamist political party, does not reject the idea of talks with India, as long as they do not trample the rights of the Kashmiris.
Rejecting Indian claims on Kashmir, Hassan said that it is not part of India. He lambasted the international community and human rights organizations for ignoring the plight of the Kashmiris, who were never allowed to realize their right to self-determination.
"India uses the "talks" option only when its position is weak," Hassan said. "It is favorable to talks now because it is fed up with the heroic efforts of the Mujahideen. The blood of 70,000 shaheed who were martyred in the struggle of Kashmir will not be allowed to go waste, " he quipped.
The July summit was set after Vajpayee issued a surprise invitation in May to Musharraf for talks on the 54-year old Kashmir issue, which has caused two of the three wars between India and Pakistan. Many Kashmiris claim the right to independence, and others insist on alliance with Pakistan because of the two countries' shared Muslim majorities, while India and Pakistan vie for possession of the territory.
With Additional Reporting By Ayub Khan in Chicago.
|
