APHC for fresh talks with Delhi: Kashmiris leave after two-week visit
KAMAN POST (Line of Control), June 16: Leaders from occupied Kashmir returned home on Thursday from a historic trip to Pakistan, saying they were ready to hold a new round of talks with New Delhi on the future of their troubled state.
The nine leaders, who have been on a two-week visit to Pakistan, arrived by the trans-Kashmir bus early afternoon at Kaman Post on the Line of Control.
They later reached Srinagar in a motorcade amid tight security by India’s security forces.
“It’s been a very successful trip for us,” said All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
“We’re ready for talks with New Delhi but it’s for them to decide when they want to talk,” the Mirwaiz told AFP shortly after crossing back into the occupied zone.
The APHC leaders held two meetings with the Indian government in 2004 but the talks stalled when the Congress party won power in May 2004.
“The biggest benefit from the trip is that Kashmiris are being accepted as a party to the dispute,” the Mirwaiz added.
“Our triangular approach has been appreciated in Pakistan and in Azad Kashmir,” he stated.
“We spoke to Syed Salahuddin about how to consolidate the ongoing peace process,” he said.
Hundreds of supporters waited at the town of Uri near the Kaman Post crossing to greet the returning leaders, who had asked for a low-key welcome out of respect for 15 people killed on Monday in a car bomb in Pulwama.
Some of them carried photographs of leaders as they shouted ‘we want freedom’ and ‘Allah is great’ when the cavalcade passed by, residents said.
Earlier, talking to reporters in Muzaffarabad before departure for the occupied territory, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said the next move was up to India.
“We expect the government of India to show seriousness and play its role in carrying forward the ongoing peace process,” he said.
“The time has come for all three parties in the conflict to be involved in the peace process and I feel the first step towards that has been taken now,” he said.
The Mirwaiz said: “There are positive indicators from both India and Pakistan to carry the peace process forward and there is strong desire on both sides for peace and resolving disputes.”
Tariq Naqash adds from Muzaffarabad: Kashmiri leaders wrapped up their two-week visit to Pakistan and Azad Kashmir in a positive mood, saying their tour would prove fruitful.
“The purpose of our visit seems to be materializing,” Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told reporters before the delegation’s departure for Chakothi by a military helicopter.
“In the first stage, we came, met and talked with each other explicitly. The most important thing is that there is a complete solidarity and devotion in the AJK and occupied Kashmir leadership and we have observed similar unanimity of approach in the Pakistani leadership, including President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and opposition parties,” said the Mirwaiz.
Prior to informal press talk, Kashmiri leaders held a close-door meeting with AJK Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat in his chamber. The meeting was also attended by former AJK premier Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, ruling Muslim Conference president Sardar Attique Ahmed and secretary-general Shah Ghulam Qadir.
Talking to reporters the Mirwaiz expressed the hope that the government of India would demonstrate seriousness to advance the process and let all the three parties participate in it.
“If the Indian government invites us, we will also talk with it,” he said in response to a question.
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Yaseen Malik said denial of participation to Kashmiris in the peace process was not only injustice but also humiliating to them.
“We are the basic party offering sacrifices and we ought to be involved in this process. This was the transparent agenda with which we came here,” he said, dismissing allegations and apprehensions regarding their visit.
