MUZAFFARABAD: The United Jihad Council (UJC), a conglomerate of Kashmiri mujahideen groups, says there is no harm to hold talks with India, provided Kashmir is acknowledged as a dispute territory.

“We are not just for fighting… We are open to all positive steps to achieve our goals. If India acknowledges Kashmir as a dispute with some international guarantee and invites Jihad Council for talks, we are ready to enter into a purposeful process,” said UJC Secretary General Shaikh Jamilur Rehman.

He was talking to media men during a visit to the office of Capital Journalists Forum (CJF) here on Tuesday.

Mr Rehman regretted that India had never been serious towards holding meaningful parleys with any stakeholder, whether the militant groups, pro-freedom politicians or the government of Pakistan.

“We need to keep a wary eye on India’s double dealings,” he said.

On allegations by former RAW chief A.S. Dulat, the UJC Secretary General maintained that it was a failed attempt to tarnish the image of pro-freedom Kashmiri leadership, something India had been persistently doing since long “out of sheer frustration”.

“Since the Kashmiri nation is fully aware of the motives behind this fresh bout of vilification campaign, it too will fail to mislead them,” he believed.

Mr Rehman pointed out that in a situation where Kashmiris were at war with India, reconciliation with the enemy at the cost of blood of sons and daughters was next to impossible.

He said the struggle in Kashmir was an ideological movement, and had nothing to do with any worldly gains. “Had it been so, we would not have been offering the blood of our children.”

The UJC leader also pointed out that no intelligence agency revealed the names of the persons working for its interests.

“One of the purposes of this smear campaign is to create confusion as to who has the right to represent the Kashmiri people in any future talks,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2015

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