Srinagar, Oct 24: The Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Sunday launched the “cross-LoC signature campaign” to draw the attention of the United States President, Barack Obama, who is visiting India early next month, towards the Kashmir issue. Umar said the campaign would be conducted in support of a petition to the US president from the people of Jammu and Kashmir, asking him to intervene between India and Pakistan for the resolution of the Kashmir issue and for appointment a special rapporteur for the same.
  “Both India and Pakistan have failed to find a solution to the Kashmir issue. There have been many accords and agreements in the past 63 years but the issue is as it was. There is a trust-deficit between India and Pakistan as a result of which dialogue cannot take place,” Mirwaiz told reporters during a news conference here, ahead of launching the campaign.
 He said the third party intervention was therefore imperative. “We want that the international community should give attention to the issue. There have been instances in the past when third parties have played important role in the disputes like Kosovo, Palestine, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland. We seek the appointment of a special rapporteur of international stature on Kashmir. The facilitation of a special rapporteur is indispensable to help rebuild trust amongst the stakeholders and reinstate their confidence in the processes of dialogue” he said
 The Kashmir issue resolution, Mirwaiz said, was important to establish peace in South Asia and for the “national interest of India.”
 He said the signature campaign for the petition will not only be conducted in valley but also in Jammu and Azad Kashmir. The Hurriyat will also conduct the campaign online on the link:  (http://www.petitiononline.com/24102010/petition.html) and also via faxes and e-mails, and will later be submitted to the president through US embassy in New Delhi.
 The campaign will remain on till November 5—a day before of Obama’s arrival.
 “It’s not important that only Kashmiri people will support or sign the petition. Anyone who supports basic human rights and values, the humanists from any part of the globe can support it,” he said. “We hope Obama will use his influence to prevail upon India to take steps for a peaceful resolution of Kashmir issue in accordance with wishes and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”
 Miwaiz, along with other Hurriyat leaders Prof. Abdul Gani Bhat and Bilal Gani Lone, kick-started the campaign by signing the petition.

ON INTERLOCUTORS
 Asked if his party members would meet the three interlocutors who are presently in Kashmir, Mirwaiz said they had taken a decision not to meet them.
 “We have already cleared our stand on it. We believe it is an attempt to procrastinate the resolution of (Kashmir) issue,” he said. “It’s not as if there is any confusion and they (interlocutors) want to clear it. Kashmiris have made it amply clear during the past five months what they want.”

HURRIYAT(M) ACTIVISTS DETAINED, RELEASED
 Police detained a number of Hurriyat Conference (M) activists after the launch of the signature campaign by the party chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
 The detained activists include Masroor Abbas Ansari, Moulana Tari and others. They were detained outside the Hurriyat headquarters at Raj Bagh. The activists were lodged at the Raj Bagh police station and were later released.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 24 Oct 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 24 Oct 2010 18:30:00 GMT
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