Lone alleges bid to create dissent in Hurriyat

By Our Special Correspondent

KOZHIKODE, SEPT. 5. The All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leader, Mr. Abdul Gani Lone, has accused the Centre of trying to create dissent within his organisation and of foisting false cases against its leaders.

At a press conference here today, Mr. Lone said such tactics would hinder the resolution of the Kashmir conflict. It would not be possible to settle the dispute by sidelining the APHC. But this was what the Centre was doing now, he added.

Mr. Lone, who reached here on Tuesday on the last leg of his visit to the State, hoped that the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Pakistan President, Gen. Musharraf, would get rid of the blinkers put on them by intelligence networks and see the Kashmir reality in its proper perspective. Only then the problem could be solved.

The Hurriyat stand on Kashmir was clear. The APHC was keen on settlement of the dispute because the people of Kashmir who, Mr. Lone claimed the Hurriyat represented, were the main victims of the ongoing conflict. It was lack of support from his own party (the BJP) which had stood in the way of Mr. Vajpayee's efforts to settle the Kashmir dispute. Gen. Musharraf also had the same problem, he said.

The APHC was committed to persuading the Government to honour its promise of giving Kashmiris their right to self- determination. If it was not possible, the Hurriyat was also prepared to seek a negotiated settlement. However, no solution to the issue would be possible by keeping out the Hurriyat.

On whether a settlement was possible without the separation of Kashmir from the Indian Union, Mr. Lone said, ``though there is a demand for separation of Kashmir from India, in a negotiated settlement, Hurriyat is ready for a formula in which there will not be either a total victory or a total defeat for any side.'' He did not elaborate.

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