Huuriyat jihadis mad at Musharraf

Musharraf’s chat makes Kashmiris ask ‘where to from here?’

Staff Report

NEW DELHI: While Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf succeeded in incorporating some Kashmir-related confidence-building measures (CBMs) in the joint statement issued at the end of his three-day visit to India, the formulations and his “blunt talking” at a meeting with Kashmiri leaders have left Kashmiris politically perplexed.

Unlike last time, when Kashmiris rejoiced at the announcement of the opening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route, they reacted cautiously over the latest set of announcements. Fayaz Ahmad, a Srinagar-based writer, gave full marks to Indian diplomacy for managing the acceptance of almost all its CBMs. He believed that Pakistan would get the “incidental benefits” once they were implemented. He said that though there was a constituency of people who wanted a status quo with trade, the current process would only firm up the character of the Line of Control (LoC) as a dividing line.

President Musharraf’s sermons to Kashmiri leaders and talking about the interests of the people in Jammu and Ladakh have sent pro-Pakistan elements in Kashmir scurrying for cover. President Musharraf pinpointed Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Shabir Ahmad Shah and Mohammad Yasin Malik and asked them to unite. While Geelani rejected the idea on ideological grounds, Mirwaiz asked the Pakistani president that while he was fighting against extremists in his own country, why did he expect the Hurriyat moderates to give space to hardliners in Kashmir?

Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) leader Shabir Ahmed Shah, while conceding that the issue of unity came up during the meeting, said many other important things were also discussed. “We wanted to know what Islamabad was getting in response to it offering concessions to India, especially when these moves had no impact on the ground realities in Kashmir,” he said. The only encouraging thing, according to Shah, was that both sides accepted Kashmir as a dispute, but did not set any timeframe.

Geelani, who devoured most of the 150 minutes allotted to the Kashmir leaders, saw a U-turn in things. Apparently, he felt ditched. “When we started purging Hurriyat, it had the support of Islamabad,” Geelani said. “I have no interest in leadership. I am supporting the movement because I take it as worship,” he added. Sources said Geelani “bluntly talked about the domestic problems of Pakistan and its foreign policy”. This made President Musharraf tell him, “You are our opponent here (in Kashmir) and there (a reference to Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islami leader Qazi Hussain) as well.”

Unlike Geelani, who was visibly upset after his long meeting with President Musharraf, moderates were somewhat happy. However, they said Kashmiris needed to be given a role in the process. They told the president that they had also sought time to meet the Indian prime minister as well. However, observers believe that despite President Musharraf’s insistence that his visit was “satisfying and positive”, his failure was his inability to unite the Kashmiri leadership. Geelani even rejected the suggestion of becoming part of the picture that President Musharraf wanted to paint. “I will never compromise on principles and for this I will sacrifice anything,” he said.