MUZAFFARABAD, Aug 25: Dismissing criticism by four groups in occupied Kashmir, the Hizbul Mujahideen has vowed to take all possible steps needed to resolve the Kashmir issue in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiris.

“Hizbul Mujahideen will adopt all the courses which culminate in the settlement of the core issue of Kashmir in accordance with the wishes of its people so that their miseries and sufferings come to the end at the earliest,” the group’s spokesman Ehsan Elahi told Dawn on Friday.

In a joint statement issued in Srinagar, Al Nasireen, Farzandan-i-Millat, Save Kashmir Movement and Al Arifeen had accused Hizbul Mujahideen supreme commander Syed Salahuddin of making “pointless calls for ceasefire” in Kashmir.

“These are little known outfits and exist only on letterheads. These are not even members of the Jihad Council,” Mr Elahi said.

The spokesman lamented that there were elements who were taking the struggle in Kashmir as a ‘business’.

“We did not take up arms by choice, but under compulsion. And we won’t lay them down until the issue is resolved,” he said, reiterating that his outfit had not surrendered its conditions for the ceasefire.

“When India will accept the disputed status of Kashmir; stop killings and atrocities; release all the detainees and reduce the number of its troops in Kashmir to pre-1988 position with a view to resolving the issue in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiris, the guns will be dropped automatically. Nothing else can convince us to lay down arms,” he said.

In reply to a question, he said if demilitarisation meant withdrawal of troops from both sides of Kashmir followed by a free and fair plebiscite, Hizbul Mujahideen could not help but welcome it. “Hizb will openheartedly accept the majority’s decision. But the process to ascertain the will of the Kashmiris must be transparent under the supervision of international bodies.”