Srinagar, Mar 16: Hurriyat (G) chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani has rejected an offer of dialogue by India, a spokesman said on Friday.
The spokesperson, in a statement, said that on Thursday night, an Intelligence Bureau (IB) official proposed a dialogue between New Delhi and Syed Ali Geelani.
He said that Geelani refused to talk, saying “unless and until the Kashmir dispute is addressed in its historical perspective, all these attempts are futile.”
He asked India to acknowledge the disputed status of the Kashmir and begin demilitarization to hold a referendum, said the spokesman.
“Geelani made it clear that Kashmir issue has turned into a flash point and unless India accepts its disputed nature, no progress is expected and horrors of war will haunt people living in sub-continent. He further said that people of J&K are peace-loving, and Indian leaders can play a key role (in resolving the issue) by respecting their aspirations, instead of adopting coercive measures,” said the spokesman.
“They should shun fanatical politics because the need of the hour is to acknowledge the ground realities of the long-pending Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” Syed Ali Geelani, according to the statement, told the IB official.
The spokesman told the official that “Kashmiri people have never accepted or acknowledged the forced occupation of India and they are at war with this country (India) for the past seven decades”.
“We time and again demanded that people should be allowed to express their aspiration about political future and destiny of state,” he quoted Geelani as having said.
The volatile situation in Jammu and Kashmir was a natural reaction against India’s “stubborn attitude”, Geelani said, adding that Delhi was desperately trying to impose its verdict on the state through military might.
“I, with a sincere heart, want to convey that we are yearning for peace and seek peaceful resolution to the long- pending (Kashmir) issue,” Geelani said and added we are not against the dialogue process, but we favour only meaningful and result-oriented negotiations.
“We have a clear agenda and our viewpoint is unambiguous, saying the issue can be resolved through dialogue. However, more than 150 rounds of bilateral negotiations yielded no results because India never illustrated sincerity,” he quoted Geelani.
“For any Kashmiri to be part of this futile exercise will only undermine our internationally acknowledged legitimate and just struggle, nourished by the blood of our martyrs and great sacrifices and hardships rendered by the masses,” said Geelani.
Geelani, he said, made it clear that under such “indifferent, apathetic and appalling situation no talks will prove fruitful and result oriented, hence it is responsibility of Indian leadership to prepare conducive atmosphere for talks between all its stakeholders including Pakistan.”