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| | Separatists meet Pak Foreign Secy | | India annoyed | | NEW DELHI/ SRINAGAR, July 3: Much to the annoyance of the Indian Government, Pakistan
foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani had his first rendezvous with the Kashmiri separatist leaders on arrival here on Tuesday before holding two-day foreign secretary level talks with his counterpart Ranjan Mathai from Wednesday.
Shortly, after the Pakistani foreign secretary crossed over from Wagah border for the two-day talks beginning on Wednesday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) sources said that Pakistani envoy's meeting with separatists would only vitiate the atmosphere.
Sources said that holding such talks with separatists was an old tactic of Islamabad which serves no purpose.
The MEA has found the meeting with separatists more annoying since Jilani had been declared persona-non-grata in 2003 and ordered to leave India for funding the separatists as the then deputy high commissioner here. Separatist woman leader, Anjum Zamrooda Habib, who was nabbed on charges of carrying cash received from him from Pakistan High Commission, was acquitted by the court five years later.
Those with whom Jilani held separate meetings in the High Commission included hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani, moderate Hurriyat Conference leaders Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Shabir Ahmad Shah and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Mohamamd Yasin Malik. Shabir, who till now was part of the Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat, met Jilani separately, indicating his breakup with the separatist conglomerate.
"We are not against dialogue and peace between India and Pakistan. But we want a mechanism be evolved to ensure participation of Kashmiri leadership in the dialogue," said the Mirwaiz after the one-to-one meeting with the visiting foreign secretary.
He also said the dialogue between the two countries should not remain merely an event, but a process and accused India of always imposing its agenda of terrorism, instead of discussing the primary disputes that lead to such incidents.
We expressed our displeasure to the Pakistan Foreign Secretary over lack of forward movement between India and Pakistan on Kashmir issue,” Mirwaiz said and added that the Hurriyat expressed its concern over lack implementation of Confidence Building Measures like cross LoC contacts etc.
“We told him, It is alright to go ahead stepwise but there is no visible forward movement and the process is going on round and round in a circle,” said Mirwaiz.
The Pakistan foreign secretary, according to Mirwaiz, said the Pakistan government is sensitive to all issues pertaining to Kashmir. He also pledged to continue the diplomatic and moral support to the Kashmir cause.
He said Jilani also invited the Hurriyat leadership to Pakistan sometime in the month of September or October. “Kashmir is the core issues for Pakistan and the Hurriyat being the representative of sentiments and aspirations, we want to develop a consensus with them,” the Pakistan foreign secretary reportedly told Hurriyat leadership.
The eight member executive committee of the Hurriyat Conference (M) led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq met Jilani in the evening and the meeting, according to Hurriyat sources, lasted for two hours.
Geelani urged the Pakistan foreign secretary to raise the issue of denial of the political space to the separatists, pointing out his too frequent house arrests. He also shared his concern that the internal turmoil in Pakistan was affecting its capacity and capability
capability to raise issue of Kashmir forcefully at different forums.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani, chairman Hurriyat Conference (G) who had a one to one interaction with the Pakistan foreign secretary in the afternoon told him that “bilateral talks are a futile exercise and there has been no forward movement on any issue earlier,” a Hurriyat (G) spokesperson quoted him as having told the Pakistani foreign secretary. Geelani added that the earlier bilateral agreements between India and Pakistan harmed the Kashmir cause badly.
Geelani also urged Jilani to press for involvement of Kashmiri leadership in the talks. “There can be forward movement only after Kashmiris are made a part of the talks since we are the main stakeholders in Kashmir,” he told the visiting Pakistani dignitary.
Hurriyat (G) chairman is also reported to have told the Pakistan foreign to ensure the that process does not go on for too long. “Whether Pakistan supports Kashmiris or not, we will continue our struggle,” he told Jilani.
According to Hurriyat (G) spokesman, the Pakistan Foreign Secretary admitted that Pakistan has suffered due to certain limitations on the diplomatic front.
JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik met the Pakistan foreign secretary in the evening for an exchange of ideas ahead of the Indo-Pak foreign secretary level talks.
“We told the Pakistan foreign secretary that we are not against the normalization of trade relations between India and Pakistan nor are we against the resolution of other issues, however, focus should be maintained on solution of Kashmir issue,” the JKLF chairman told the Pakistan foreign secretary.
Malik also stressed on the Pak foreign secretary that since Kashmiris were suffering and lives were being lost, solution of Kashmir should be given top priority.
The JKLF chairman also asked Jilani to stress upon inclusion of Kashmiris into the talks between the two countries.
“The foreign secretary assured us that he will take up Kashmir with the Indian side during the talks,” said Malik. “The Pakistani side is hopeful of forward movement in wake of positive signals from different quarters in the Indian side,” he added.
Though Jilani is here to prepare ground for the two foreign ministers' meeting in Islamabad, possibly in August, India will be stumping his visit by sharing details of detained LeT terrorist Abu Jindal Hamza’s Pakistani passport and two identity cards to nail Pakistan's "denial attitude" on the complexity and involvement of their state agencies in 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
Though the government had earlier rejected Islamabad's request to share interrogations and documents relating to Hamza, a decision was taken at the highest level to make his arrest last month the highlight of the foreign secretary-level talks, officials said.
Soon after arriving here, Jilani said that his delegation would raise the issue of Hamza's arrest and seek evidences India is using to raise accusing finger at Pakistan. He said the leadership has given him a mandate to move the peace process forward. |
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