All-Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Geelani asks Pakistan not to compromise stand on Kashmir

SRINAGAR | NEW DELHI: The chairman of the hardline faction of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Geelani, has asked Pakistan not to compromise its stand on Kashmir when it holds a structured dialogue with India.

A hardline Hurriyat delegation comprising Peer Saifullah and Altaf Ahmad Shah reiterated Geelani’s five pre-conditions, including India accepting the disputed nature of J&K, when it held a detailed meeting for one-and-a-half hours with Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit in New Delhi on Monday.

Pakistan high commission sources told ETthat the meeting with Hurriyat leaders was held in the spirit on Islamabad’s stated position on the Hurriyat and Kashmir. Close on heels of Swaraj's visit to Islamabad, Pakistani envoy Abdul Basit emphasised that there was no change in Islamabad’s policy on Hurriyat.

Geelani said that his faction would not support ‘any solution tion including Musharraff ’s four-point formula or any of its new forms or manifestations that compromises the ‘sacrifices’ of the people of J&K. According to sources, Islamabad may invite Hurriyat leaders to visit Pakistan soon. The Centre has in the past withheld passports and travel documents of all senior leaders including Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq or Yaseen Malik.

“Any dialogue is waste unless and until India accepts disputed nature of J&K and other basic demands. We have conveyed our point of view to Pakistan,” Geelani said. The octogenarian leader demanded that India should also withdraw jawans and police personnel ‘involved in killing’ of more than 120 youngsters in 2010.