Interlocutors meet Ansari, moderate Hurriyat faction suspends

Srinagar(Jammu and Kashmir), Apr 20 (PTI) After months
of efforts to break the ice with separatists, Centre's
interlocutors on Kashmir Wednesday met former Hurriyat
Chairman Maulana Abbas Ansari, a move which irked the moderate
faction which suspended him from the amalgam.
"This morning we met Ansari at his residence to
discuss ways and means to carry forward the dialogue process
that would lead to a peaceful settlement in Jammu and
Kashmir," chief of the three-member interlocutors' team Dileep
Padgaonkar told reporters here.
He said the discussion, lasting a little over an hour,
was conducted in a cordial and constructive spirit.
"Maulana Ansari informed us that he favoured talks
with the government to arrive at such a settlement. The
dialogue had to be held at an appropriate level with
representatives of separatist groups and in the presence of
the interlocutors appointed by the Centre," Padgaonkar said.
However, within minutes after the news came out about
the meeting, Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq
announced suspension of its constituent Itehad-ul-Muslimeen
(IuM) party.
"We have suspended IuM for violating the Hurriyat
decision on meeting the interlocutors appointed by Government
of India," Mirwaiz told PTI.
Briefing about their meeting with Ansari, Padgaonkar
said Ansari emphasized that perceptible changes on the ground
was required to inculcate a spirit of trust in the people of
the state.
"Towards this end, he urged that the talks with the
government should initially focus on the four point agenda of
the moderate Hurriyat. The talks would cover the steps already
taken by the government in this regard and the further steps
that required to be taken to create a conducive atmosphere for
subsequent discussions," he added.
The IuM is among the founder constituents of Hurriyat
conference and one of the seven parties which have
representatives in the highest decision making body, the
Executive Committee.
The Mirwaiz said the suspension will remain in force
till the next meeting of the executive body of the amalgam
which is likely to take place sometime next week.
"Although IuM is represented by Ansari's son, Maulana
Masroor Abbas Ansari, in the Hurriyat meetings, the party is a
member of the amalgam and should have abided by the Hurriyat
decision," he said.
Padgaonkar said Ansari hoped that the centre would
allow the Hurriyat leaders to visit Pakistan to persuade
the authorities there as well as leaders in Pakistan-occupied
Kashmir to take them on board to work for a settlement that
would satisfy all stakeholders.
Ansari has agreed to meet the interlocutors again to
ensure that the dialogue process would be a sustained one, he
said adding this alone would ensure that incremental progress
is made for reaching a political settlement in Jammu and
Kashmir within a specified time frame.
Responding to questions, he said the interlocutors did
not knock on the door of the separatist leader but the meeting
was arranged by "mutual friends".
He also admitted that slain Jamiat-e-Ahli Hadees Chief
Moulvi Showkat Ahmad Shah had met the interlocutors but the
meeting was largely focussed on his educational ventures which
included setting up of a university.
Padgaonkar said the interlocutors were willing to meet
the separatist leadership in Kashmir at any place and any time
but they will not go to meet them uninvited.
"We have expressed our willingness to meet them
anywhere and at any time. It is now for them to decide," he
said.
Ansari was the chairman of the Hurriyat Conference
when hardline leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani engineered a
vertical split in the amalgam for the failure of the
leadership to run an effective boycott campaign in the 2002
Assembly elections.
On the need for including Pakistan in the efforts to
find a solution to Kashmir problem, Padgaonkar said there is a
renewed engagement between India and Pakistan and it has been
welcomed by people in Jammu and Kashmir.