news details |
|
|
| They went to Pakistan to demand their inclusion in Kashmir talks | | Desperate And Opportunistic APHC (M) | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 26: The 7-member APHC-M delegation under its chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq went to Pakistan ten days ago to hold discussions with the Pakistani ruling elite, opposition, religious leaders and others who matter in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Jammu and Kashmir (POJK). It concluded the process of meetings three days ago. They will be back to Kashmir in a few days.
What was the purpose behind the APHC-M leadership's visit to Pakistan - visit that was opposed by other extremists and separatists like Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Shabir Ahmad Shah for varied reasons? Mirwaiz himself had explained the reasons just on the eve of their visit to Pakistan. Apart from urging separatists like Geelani to change their outlook and go in for some compromise formula, he had said that the delegation would give some "inputs" to the Pakistani leadership and discuss with its ways and means of resolving the Jammu and Kashmir "dispute".
No one can say what transpired during the many meetings which took place between the APHC delegation and Pakistani leadership, but one thing is very clear: The delegation had gone to Pakistan to persuade the Pakistani authorities to recognize the Kashmiri Muslims as a third party to the Kashmir "dispute". Addressing media persons in Lahore, Mirwaiz himself reportedly said that the APHC-M delegation demanded inclusion of Kashmiris in the dialogue process. "We are the basic and primary party to the dispute; therefore our participation in the dialogue process is inevitable…We are not averse to the dialogue process, but Kashmiris must be the part of the process," he reportedly said. The Pakistani leadership reassured the APHC-M delegation that it would vouch for a solution that is also based on the aspirations of Kashmiri people. There was no reference to Jammu or Ladakh. It was expected.
There was nothing new in what Mirwaiz said and what the Pakistani leadership suggested in response. Mirwaiz and other Kashmiri separatists had been saying since decades what Mirwaiz said in Islamabad and Lahore. Similarly, the Pakistani leadership reiterated its old public stand on the Kashmir issue. Both talked about the relevant UN resolutions without appreciating the fact that there was nothing in the said resolutions which even suggested that Jammu and Kashmir was a trilateral issue; it was, according to them, a bilateral issue which was to be resolved through dialogue between India and Pakistan.
Where was the need for Mirwaiz and his six other colleagues to go to Pakistan to put forth the demand they had been raising in Kashmir at regular intervals? They could have put forth their demand yet again in Srinagar either on Friday at Jamia Masjid or through a press conference, their normal practice. That they went all the way from Srinagar to Pakistan to urge the Pakistani readership to recognize Kashmiris as a third party only proved that the over 65-year-old separatist movement in the Valley has utterly failed. In fact, they were doomed to a failure and they failed. The reason: India will never accept their demand and Pakistan is interested in the Jammu and Kashmir territories and its precious waters, and not in Kashmiris. It would be better if they recognize the truth that tripartite talks on Jammu and Kashmir are a distant possibility and try their luck by taking part in the electoral exercises in the state. There is no other option available to them. Even some of the Kashmiri commentators have opined that nothing concrete emerged out of their visit to Pakistan. They simply said that it was a positive development and in the process indicated their very positive attitude towards Pakistan, thus the view of the Kashmiri leadership that Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory and India is the root cause of the problem. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
