Talks with govt 'futile', basic issue never addressed: Syed Ali Shah Geelani

SRINAGAR: A day after the Centre said it was ready to have a dialogue with separatists in Jammu and Kashmir under the framework of the Constitution, hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani today said such talks do not help in addressing the basic issue of resolution of Kashmir dispute and prove to be "futile".

"The resolution of Kashmir dispute is a basic issue. Until this issue is addressed as core issue and until this dispute is solved according to the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people and by respecting the sacrifices rendered by them, such talks will not help in addressing the issue.

"Such dialogue will prove a futile action like the past and nothing concrete can be expected from those talks," Geelani told reporters at his residence.

Geelani was reacting to the statement of Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary, who in the Lok Sabha yesterday said the Centre would hold talks with all separatist groups in J&K who are willing to eschew the path of violence and work within the framework of the Constitution.

He also said that India and Pakistan have held more than 150 rounds of talks so far but all those dialogues had "failed" to yield anything.

The Hurriyat hawk termed the Paris attacks as "un-islamic" but said what France and other nations were doing in Syria and other countries was also against humanity.

"Those nations are bombing innocent people. There might be members of Daesh (ISIS) in those countries which these nations are targeting, but in those attacks many innocent people are getting killed," he said.

The Hurriyat chairman condemned continuous detention of Masarat Alam under Public Safety Act (PSA) and demanded his immediate release. He said 72 people had been detained under PSA since Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed took over the reins of the state.

"12 out of them have been detained in November only," Geelani said.