APHC rules out taking part in poll

Published July 31, 2002

SRINAGAR, July 30: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference on Tuesday ruled out taking part in elections in occupied Kashmir, days after the United States had said the polls could be a first step to easing tensions.

“We will not participate in an election which is for governance... governance does not figure in our agenda,” Abdul Gani Bhat, APHC chairman said.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell, on a peace mission to Pakistan and India during the weekend, said he welcomed New Delhi’s pledge to hold fair elections in the held state.

Elections can be a “first step in a broader process that begins to address Kashmiri grievances and leads India and Pakistan back to dialogue,” Powell said in New Delhi on Sunday.

“Let the United Nations organize elections...for a specific purpose which is obviously a permanent settlement of the dispute of Jammu and Kashmir (and) we will positively, actively participate in the process,” Bhat said.

Several previous elections in occupied Kashmir have been dogged by allegations of rigging. Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has promised the coming poll will be free of irregularities.

The Hizb-ul-Mujahideen has warned that anyone taking part in the elections would be viewed as a traitor.—Reuters

Opinion

Editorial

Anti-smuggling drive
Updated 04 Oct, 2023

Anti-smuggling drive

Smuggling is eating into the economy, weakening it and imposing enormous costs on the manufacturing industry, jobs and public well-being.
Deadly trade
Updated 04 Oct, 2023

Deadly trade

Not only is the physical well-being of individuals at risk, the ethical fibre of our medical community is also threatened.
Caucasus conflict
04 Oct, 2023

Caucasus conflict

AFTER more than three decades of stalemate, the bloody conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh may be headed for a conclusion....
Relying on debt
Updated 03 Oct, 2023

Relying on debt

Sadly, the ruling military and civil elite haven’t grasped the seriousness of the economic crises.
Palestine abandoned
03 Oct, 2023

Palestine abandoned

IT appears to be only a matter of time before a normalisation deal is announced between Saudi Arabia and Israel....
Killjoys in Swat
03 Oct, 2023

Killjoys in Swat

IN yet another blow to women’s rights in Pakistan, a group of young, spirited girls seeking to participate in a...