SRINAGAR, April 23: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference on Wednesday dismissed the start of talks by New Delhi’s new pointman as a “non-serious process”.

N.N. Vohra, a retired bureaucrat, was appointed as the new pointman on Kashmir by New Delhi in February. He was authorized to initiate talks with elected representatives and other sectors of Kashmiri society.

Mr Vohra arrived here on Monday for a week-long tour, and has said his doors are open to all, including militants.

His arrival has coincided with a sudden rise in violence that since Tuesday has left 29 people dead, six of them in an explosion.

The APHC says it will not talk “in a crowd”, and wants trilateral talks involving India, Pakistan and Kashmiris to resolve the conflict.

Shabir Shah, a senior leader who works outside Hurriyat and has been talking to Indian representatives in the past, has also declined to meet Mr Vohra, saying the Indian prime minister himself should send the invitation.

Even moderate Kashmiri leaders have snubbed the pointman.

“It is still a mystery why he (Vohra) has come here,” said Sajjad Lone, the leader of the People’s Conference, an important constituent of Hurriyat.

“All the news about Vohra comes out through newspapers,” he said. “This is not the prudent way of resolving the Kashmir issue. I think it is a non-serious process.”

Mr Lone said Hurriyat would be meeting on Thursday to discuss Vohra’s stay in Srinagar.

He said despite Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee saying N.N. Vohra would be bringing a possible invitation for talks with the Indian government, the APHC had not received anything so far.

Lone said India is a signatory to UN resolutions on Kashmir, which declare the region a disputed state and call for plebiscite. —AFP