Geelani admits to differences over summit

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR, JUNE 23. Differences within the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) came to the fore today when one of its senior leaders, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, said the content of the APHC letters to the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, and the Pakistan President, Gen. Musharraf, was not approved by the executive council.

Though he repeatedly avoided questions on the Hurriyat's stand on the coming summit, he admitted that there were differences in the conglomerate but refused to elaborate. ``I was not present in the June 13 meeting of the executive in which the decision to send the letters was taken. But I know that the content of the letters was not discussed and the question of its approval does not arise,'' Mr. Geelani, a former APHC chairman, who has been staying away from Hurriyat meetings, said. By sending identical letters to the two leaders, the Hurriyat had ostensibly changed its earlier stand according to which India was seen as an ``oppressor'' and Pakistan a ``sympathiser.'' The letters were handed over to the Pakistan High Commissioner, Mr. Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, and an official in the PMO, by Hurriyat representatives.

On the recent meeting of the executive which turned out to be stormy, Mr. Geelani said ``Behter Yahin Hey Ki Zakhmon Ko Hara Na Kiya Jayey'' (It is better not to scratch the wounds). It was a violation of the Hurriyat constitution which stresses on the resolution of the issue through tripartite talks, he added.

He urged Gen. Musharraf to focus on the Kashmir issue during his summit with Mr. Vajpayee. ``The basis of the talks should be the Kashmir issue and Gen. Musharraf should take positive steps in this direction,'' he said. If the historical aspect of the problem was not taken into consideration, the dialogue would not lead to any solution. However, he was not against the talks. Mr. Geelani stressed that resolution of the Kashmir problem was possible only by implementing the United Nations resolutions on Kashmir.

`Repression':

Mr. Geelani accused the Government of stepping up atrocities against the people ahead of the summit. ``I do not understand why on the one hand, the Government is talking about the peace process and on the other, carrying out the genocide of Kashmiris,'' he said. Referring to his visit to Hanoora village in north Kashmir, he said 28 Rashtriya Rifles had ``let loose a reign of terror against the people.''

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