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Advani to hold dialogue with Hurriyat chairman
New Delhi, Oct 22: In a major move, the Centre today announced that Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani will hold the first-ever dialogue with separatist Hurriyat Conference chairman Maulana Abbas Ansari on the Kashmir issue, a decision immediately welcomed by the amalgam chief.
New Delhi, Oct 22: In a major move, the Centre today announced that Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani will hold the first-ever dialogue with separatist Hurriyat Conference
chairman Maulana Abbas Ansari on the Kashmir issue, a decision immediately welcomed by the amalgam chief.
"The Deputy Prime Minister will meet Ansari in response to his statement of August 25 that they (Hurriyat) are interested in talks with the Centre", Home Secretary N Gopalaswami told reporters after a two-hour meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The decision, which came nearly six weeks after a split in the 25-party conglomerate leading to fire-brand Jamaat-e-Islami leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani forming a parallel amalgam, was aimed at carrying forward the Centre's peace process in Jammu and Kashmir.
Asked as to when the meeting between Advani and Ansari would take place, the home secretary said the dates would be decided later.
Ansari, who is here, welcomed the decision which came "though a bit late" and said he would hold an emergency meeting of Hurriyat executive tomorrow in Srinagar to "discuss this new initiative".
Observing that the Hurriyat always favoured resolution of all issues through dialogue, Ansari said the Centre should specify agenda for talks. "The agenda of the talks with the Deputy Prime Minister will decide the future course of action of the Hurriyat," he said, adding the fresh initiative "seems to signal the seriousness of the government in resolving the Kashmir issue."
Official sources said the Centre had never stated in the past that it would not talk to the Hurriyat Conference. For talks to take place there has to be a timing, the sources said but did not elaborate.
Hurriyat has been demanding direct talks with the Centre which had been parrying it asking the amalgam to hold a dialogue with its interlocutor N N Vohra.
State Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, who has been requesting the Centre for such an initiative, also hailed the government's decision.
Besides the Prime Minister, the CCS meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, Planning Commissioner Deputy Chairman K C Pant, National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra and Cabinet Secretary Kamal Pande.
Defence minister George Fernandes was not present as he is away in Ukraine. Nearly a year after the NDA-led government came to power, K C Pant was appointed as Centre's interloctor in 2000 for talking to various groups including the separatists to work out lasting solution in the restive state.
However, barring Shabir Shah, none of the separatist leaders including the Hurriyat conference came forward for talks with Pant.
He then amalgam chairman Abdul Gani Bhat while rejecting the pant initiative had said that "Pant was fishing in the desert and building bridges where there are no rivers."
Three years after this initiative, the Centre again appointed former home secretary N N Vohra as its interlocutor for holding dialogue with the separatists.
Vohra did not send any invitations but advertised in the newspapers in Jammu and Kashmir asking groups to come forward and hold talks. This move was also rejected by the Hurriyat.
The amalgam, meanwhile, had entered into parleys with former law minister Ram Jethmalani who had launched a private initiative. Though the initiative was not given any support by the Centre, the Hurriyat still continues to hold several rounds of talks with Jethmalani's Kashmir Committee.
Bureau Report
The decision, which came nearly six weeks after a split in the 25-party conglomerate leading to fire-brand Jamaat-e-Islami leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani forming a parallel amalgam, was aimed at carrying forward the Centre's peace process in Jammu and Kashmir.
Asked as to when the meeting between Advani and Ansari would take place, the home secretary said the dates would be decided later.
Ansari, who is here, welcomed the decision which came "though a bit late" and said he would hold an emergency meeting of Hurriyat executive tomorrow in Srinagar to "discuss this new initiative".
Observing that the Hurriyat always favoured resolution of all issues through dialogue, Ansari said the Centre should specify agenda for talks. "The agenda of the talks with the Deputy Prime Minister will decide the future course of action of the Hurriyat," he said, adding the fresh initiative "seems to signal the seriousness of the government in resolving the Kashmir issue."
Official sources said the Centre had never stated in the past that it would not talk to the Hurriyat Conference. For talks to take place there has to be a timing, the sources said but did not elaborate.
Hurriyat has been demanding direct talks with the Centre which had been parrying it asking the amalgam to hold a dialogue with its interlocutor N N Vohra.
State Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, who has been requesting the Centre for such an initiative, also hailed the government's decision.
Besides the Prime Minister, the CCS meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, Planning Commissioner Deputy Chairman K C Pant, National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra and Cabinet Secretary Kamal Pande.
Defence minister George Fernandes was not present as he is away in Ukraine. Nearly a year after the NDA-led government came to power, K C Pant was appointed as Centre's interloctor in 2000 for talking to various groups including the separatists to work out lasting solution in the restive state.
However, barring Shabir Shah, none of the separatist leaders including the Hurriyat conference came forward for talks with Pant.
He then amalgam chairman Abdul Gani Bhat while rejecting the pant initiative had said that "Pant was fishing in the desert and building bridges where there are no rivers."
Three years after this initiative, the Centre again appointed former home secretary N N Vohra as its interlocutor for holding dialogue with the separatists.
Vohra did not send any invitations but advertised in the newspapers in Jammu and Kashmir asking groups to come forward and hold talks. This move was also rejected by the Hurriyat.
The amalgam, meanwhile, had entered into parleys with former law minister Ram Jethmalani who had launched a private initiative. Though the initiative was not given any support by the Centre, the Hurriyat still continues to hold several rounds of talks with Jethmalani's Kashmir Committee.
Bureau Report