Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Liberation Party chairman Hashim Qureshi on Thursday asked the separatists not to shy away from elections saying it is not a "contagious disease".
"If they (separatists) are in the assembly, they can make their voice heard. They should not run away from the elections, they should know that election is not a contagious disease", Qureshi, a 1971 hijacker turned politician, told reporters here.
He said if separatists make it to the assembly they can pass an "Azaadi resolution" which will bring "more global attention to the issue. And if their resolution is not accepted they can resign".
Qureshi, who had hijacked an Indian passenger plane to Pakistan in 1971, said his party rejects the 1949 United Nations plebiscite resolution on Jammu and Kashmir.
"The United Nations resolution on Kashmir is controversial because in its last resolution (in 1949) the people of the state are asked to choose between the two masters - India and Pakistan", he said.
He said the United Nations resolution has become "obsolete" because of the conditions laid in the resolutions which asks Pakistan to withdraw its forces from the entire state and hand over the areas under its control to the "government based in Srinagar".
PTI
