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| Cat is out of bag | | Hurriyat says not averse to polls | | NIRBHAY JAMMUAL
Jammu | Nov 3
After a lot of murmur the cat is almost out of the bag. Amidst mainstream political parties getting into poll mode, the separatists too have reflected their mood to throw their hats in the ring.
It was already widely rumoured that various separatists outfits, within and outside the Hurriyat Conference, may participate in elections as they were holding back channel dialogues with the officials of government of India. In a such a scenario the Peoples Democratic Party of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed emerged as a major looser in the Valley during next elections.
Chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), Mirwaiz Umer Farooq has hinted that the Hurriyat is willing to participate in the polls. "If India and Pakistan are able to get people involved and some sort of an understanding is reached whether it is a four-point formula or whether its self governance and other ideas if they are accepted if they are addressed and even if an interim solution is discussed, Hurriyat has always said that we are never scared to go into elections", he a told a television channel in an interview.
Amidst these speculations and changing moods in the Valley, the Government of India is likely to send fresh invitations to the Hurriyat Conference for a dialogue with the Prime Minister. It is after a long silence the Hurriyat Conference has pitched in with an idea.
The Hurriyat Conference has asked for the restoration of pre-1953 status as a condition for their participation in the elections. According to constitutional experts, constitutionally and legally Jammu and Kashmir still can still have a position as it existed before 1953. Hurriyat points out that the state already enjoys a special status under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. It also has its own Constitution and a separate state flag. And what is more, even regional parties support a rollback to the pre-1953 status.
The mainstream political parties, though worried of the Hurriyat intentions of joining elections, have welcomed their stand. The former Chief Minister and National Conference patron Dr Farooq Abdullah says, "if they go to 53 status, I will be the happiest man, but they must meet the Prime Minister, they should go and talk to him, its no use remaining quiet about it and giving press statements. We have no quarrel at all as long as they take part in polls".
In case the Hurriyat Conference takes part in the elections, the Peoples Democratic Party is likely to emerge as an ultimate sufferers during the elections. Political analysts believe that it was the vote of dissent or the vote against National Conference and the Congress which the PDP secured during the last elections. However, this time if the so called representatives of dissent themselves participate in the elections chances are that the PDP may draw blank in most of the pockets, commented a political analyst. |
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