ISLAMABAD, July 8: Kashmiris are the basic partners in the Kashmir issue and they must be included in the dialogue between Pakistan and India, says a leader of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference.
In a radio interview, he said that the solution to the Kashmir dispute might incorporate the stands of Pakistan, India, and the Kashmiris and that the issue should be resolved in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
He said that the dialogue's format should only be finalised when the three parties sit together. Referring to the will of the Kashmiri people, he said that his signature movement was now one- year old, adding that they should be included in any such negotiation between India and Pakistan.
About the unity of Kashmiri parties, he said: "I am a strong supporter of unity (among Kashmiri parties)." In this connection, he said, a Unity Forum had already been formed which was not a political one, adding that it had been working for unity for the past eight months.
ANSARI'S RESIGNATION: Appreciating Maulana Abbass Ansari's resignation from the post of his own faction of the APHC, former chairmen of the organization, Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq stressed the need for unity among the Kashmiris.
In a radio interview, Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat said that Maulana Abbas Ansari had set a "great example of sacrifice" in the greater interest of the APHC. He denied the impression that Maulana Ansari had resigned under pressure.
Terming Maulana Ansari's decision to resign a bold step, he said that it would be an injustice to him and to the entire Kashmiri nation even to talk about such things. Prof Bhat said that under the present circumstances, unity among the pro-freedom Kashmiri leadership was imperative.
Umer Farooq said that during their meeting with Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar, the APHC leaders were urged to forge unity, adding that everyone sympathetic to the cause of the Kashmiri people had expressed the desire to shun differences. There existed a general recognition that the Kashmiris' participation in the talks for the solution of the Kashmir dispute was essential. -APP
