Kralpora (Kupwara), May 22: Chairman of Hurriyat Conference (M) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Sunday called for a roundtable conference between India, Pakistan and the people of all regions of Jammu and Kashmir for resolving the Kashmir issue.
 Addressing a mammoth public rally here, which was largely attended by supporters of Peoples Conference (PC), Mirwaiz said the endeavor can be a good option for resolving the issue.
 The PC had organized the rally to commemorate the death anniversary of its founder Abdul Gani Lone.
 “Talks should be held between the leadership of Kashmir, Pakistan and India and not at the level of interlocutors. The engagement of interlocutors on Kashmir is nothing but a time-consuming process. For the past one year, we have been hearing that they (interlocutors) are talking to every Tom, Dick and Harry in the state,” he said, adding that the “ideas like Dixon Plan, Pervez Musharaff’s four-point formula and Sajad Lone’s roadmap (Achievable Nationhood) can be also discussed.”
 Mirwaiz said “we are ready to walk an extra mile if New Delhi shows seriousness in resolving Kashmir.”
 “We are not blindfolded and would respond positively. It is unfortunate that India and Pakistan meet on a cricket match but not for resolving the Kashmir issue,” he said.
 Coming down heavily on New Delhi, Mirwaiz said the Government of India is confused and eludes consensus on Kashmir.
 He said New Delhi should realize that sentiments and aspirations of Kashmiris cannot be crushed through repression and “brute force as has been the case in the past 20 years.” 
 Stressing on moulding public opinion of the Indian masses in favour of Kashmiris, Mirwaiz said that people in different parts of India view Kashmir through the prism of Pakistan. “They think that everything happening in Kashmir is being done at behest of Pakistan,” he said.
 Castigating the state government for thwarting May 21 rally of the amalgam to commemorate Mirwaiz Muhammad Farooq’s death anniversary, Mirwaiz Umar said these tactics won’t deter them from constructing minarets and memorials of Kashmir martyrs.
 “The blood of our martyrs won’t go waste,” he said, urging the people of Kupwara to “strengthen the hands of Peoples Conference and its chairman Bilal Gani Lone.”
 The PC chairman, Bilal Gani Lone, who is also the executive member of Hurriyat Conference (M), said that Pakistan is a benefactor of Kashmiris.
 “We need their consultation but we won’t accept diktats from any force or any country,” he said.
 Lone also called upon the separatist groups “to look beyond the Friday politics for strengthening the movement.”
 “This politics will not work and there is a dire need for strengthening movement at the grassroots level. We need to change our strategy for taking the mission of the martyrs to its logical conclusion,” he said, adding that PC won’t make a sell-out of the sacrifices of martyrs.
 “118 youth were killed in Kashmir last year and we have seen enough bloodshed in the past 64 years,” he said.
 Asking people to safeguard their leadership, Bilal said, “We need to defeat any vicious political mindset that snatched our political leaders like Mirwaiz Moulana Muhammed Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone from us. We don’t want to create any controversy. But we need to look into why they were killed? A political mindset created atmosphere for their assassinations. Let these elements convince us if Kashmir issue was resolved by these killings,” he said. “If such killings continue, who will represent sentiments and aspirations of Kashmiris then?”
 Lone said his party was not against the unity of pro-freedom groups. But, he said, unity should be based on political harmony and equality.
 “If anybody walks one step for unity, we will walk 10 steps,” he said.
 Asking mainstream parties to shun “politics of deceit”, senior Hurriyat (M) leader Prof. Abdul Gani Bhat said all forces including National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party should in unison ask India and Pakistan to solve the Kashmir issue.
 “If they (mainstream parties) claim that Kashmir is a problem, then they should not lie and speak the truth in sync with the sentiments and aspirations of Kashmiris,” he said.
 Bhat said that Kashmiris shouldn’t wait for India and Pakistan to invite them for a dialogue but should make an offer from here.
 Earlier, Mirwaiz and Lone were brought in a cavalcade of vehicles by thousands of PC supporters from Trehgam to Kralpora. The cadres were raising slogans in favour of Lone, Mirwaiz and PC.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 22 May 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 22 May 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 IST