Sheikh Mushtaq
SRINAGAR, Feb 10 (1996) – A leading Kashmiri separatist group on Saturday denounced a offer made by four former guerrillas to start talks with the Indian government to end a six-year rebellion against New Delhi.
The All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, which bands more than 30 separatist groups, said that “these four are Indian agents and are trying for a sell-out.
“Without the participation of Pakistan in the talks, the Kashmir crisis cannot be resolved,” a Hurriyat statement said.
Former leaders of four guerrilla groups who had been jailed during the revolt and later released told a news conference on Thursday they were willing to hold direct talks with New Delhi without Pakistan’s participation.
The four said they were forming an alternative platform to the Hurriyat Conference, which has sought to represent the mostly Moslem Kashmir valley.
“The Hurriyat is a failure,” Bilal Lodhi, formerly of the Al-Barq separatist group, said on Thursday. “Their only weapon is strike calls which have crippled the Kashmiri economy.”
An Indian government official said: “It’s a significant development. The government of India always believes in dialogue rather than violence.”
Hurriyat denounced the four former guerrillas. “We will not allow anybody to sell the blood of martyrs. Hurriyat appeals to respective organisations to expel the four leaders from their organisations,” the statement said.
Police and hospital officials estimate more than 20,000 people have died since the separatist uprising erupted in 1990 in mostly Hindu India’s only Moslem-majority state. Separatist groups put the figure at some 40,000.
India accuses Pakistan, which controls one-third of Kashmir, of arming and training guerrillas. Islamabad says it provides only moral and diplomatic support.
Kashmiri separatists are struggling either for an independent nation or a merger with Islamic Pakistan.
Pakistan and most Kashmiri separatists want the United Nations to organise a plebiscite which would give the Kashmiris the chance to opt out of India.
New Delhi insists all of Kashmir is an integral part of India and is only willing to discuss the issue with Pakistan provided there are no preconditions.
