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Kashmir : Musharraf attempt to unite Hurriyat groups fails |
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The attempt by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to persuade different Hurriyat groups to speak with one voice made during his visit to New Delhi on April 16-18 has met with failure. In separate meetings with the two factions of the Hurriyat which lasted for more than two hours, Musharraf said it was both his wish and effort to see unity in the Hurriyat Conference. The General said he wants the Kashmiri leadership to speak with one voice. He assured them that he would not go in for any solution of the Kashmir issue which is not acceptable to the Kashmiris.
But reports say that the two factions came out of the meeting as divided as ever. The hardline group leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, blamed the moderates for violating the Hurriyat constitution and entering into what he called “a bilateral dialogue” with the Indian Government. The Chairman of the moderate faction Mirwaiz Umar Farooq is reported to have told Musharraf, “You are fighting extremism in Pakistan, how do you expect us to follow extremists and promote extremism in India ?”
The differences between the two factions were also clear from the way in which they looked at the confidence-building measures. Syed Ali Shah Geelani said, “The CBMs are meaningless if they fail to get translated on the ground.” He alleged that the custodial killings and human rights violations were going on.
Mirwaiz countered this by hailing all CBMs. “We know that we have to work step by step. Nothing can be achieved in one go.”
Sources said that most of the time, Musharraf was a silent listener. He interrupted only to ask a question or two on the unity moves as also on the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Nayeem Khan, a leader of the Geelani faction, however, described the meeting with Musharraf as a “productive interaction.”
Congress-PDP differences widen
Meanwhile, the differences between the two main coalition partners in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have widened. A meeting of the State Cabinet had to be postponed following a verbal duel between Chief Minister Mufti Mohd. Sayeed who belongs to the PDP and Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma of the Congress on Tuesday, April 19. Mangat Ram Sharma walked out of the meeting after the Chief Minister reprimanded him for using improper language.
Sharma later went to Delhi to apprise the Congress High Command of the state of affairs in Jammu and Kashmir.
Observers say that the differences between the two parties are deepening as the time is approaching - November - for swapping the positions of Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister. As per the agreement between the two parties, the Chief Ministership will go to the Congress in November for the next three years while PDP will get the deputy chiefministership.
Reports say that it is only the TINA (There is no alternative) factor which is forcing the Congress to continue supporting the Mufti Sayeed Government in Jammu and Kashmir. The party high command has given the State unit a clear indication that it cannot afford to topple the Government when the peace process in the state is moving in the right direction.
There are also reports that Mufti Mohd. Sayeed is angling for continuing as Chief Minister even after the three years allotted to his party for the Chief Ministership are over in November. But the chances of the Congress accepting this formulation are not very bright. The Congress already has a number of candidates who have thrown in the ring their claim to be Chief Minister. These include Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mangat Ram Sharma and Saifuddin Soz. Observers say that the PDP-Congress coalition is set for a rough ride during the next three and a half years.
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