Mirwaiz invites PM, Gilani

By Yusuf Jameel

Srinagar, May 21: Kashmir’s chief Muslim cleric and chairman of his faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, on Wednesday extended an open invitation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart, Mr Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, to hold a summit meeting on Kashmir in Srinagar. The second round of talks, he said, could be held in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Invoking the native maxim "Qazia zameen, bar sare zameen (the dispute is about land and must be decided on that land)", he postulated that a dispute ought to be resolved on the spot. However, the process may be taken forward by holding future parleys in New Delhi and Islamabad, he added.

The Mirwaiz was addressing an impressive rally beside the Martyrs’ graveyard here, which with a Valley-wide shutdown marked the end of the weeklong commemoration of the slaying of his father, Mirwaiz Mohammed Farooq, and another separatist leader, Abdul Gani Lone.

He said that during the proposed summit Kashmir alone may be discussed. "Their meeting in Srinagar and Muzaffarabad will create an atmosphere conducive for future talks on Kashmir," he asserted.

The Mirwaiz added, "Both India and Pakistan say they want to resolve Kashmir amicably. If they really mean that they must come here and then go to Muzaffarabad to prove their sincerity. They must hammer out a lasting solution to the problem."

Turning to the coming Assembly elections, the Mirwaiz reiterated that this was a non-issue for the amalgam. "We have said it before, and we reiterate today, that elections are not a solution to the Kashmir problem nor can these be a substitute to our right to self-determination," he said, adding that since 1947 a number of elections were held but without resolving Kashmir. "We reject elections," he insisted.