KT NEWS SERVICE JAMMU, Mar 16: If Pakistan President, General Pervez Musharraf, can change his stand on Kashmir and accept the fact that bloodshed is no solution to any issue, then the militant organisations, whether in Kashmir, Doda or Rajouri, should take a cue from him and come forward to join the peace process with a "fresh approach." These were the words of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in the State Assembly today while replying to the supplementaries to a question raised by senior NC member, Ali Mohammed Sagar.
Stressing, once again, that "guns and dialogue cannot go hand in hand," Azad emphasised, "Government has already extended an open invitation to all organisations and individuals, whether political, militant, underground or others, to take part in the dialogue." In his reply, Azad said, "Hurriyat Conference leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani was also invited to the Round Table Conference (RTC) held in January 2006 but he chose not to come.
He is again invited for the second round of RTC, to be held in May this year and if he wants to meet the Prime Minister alone, the government is ready for that, too." He congratulated President Musharraf and Pakistan for the "positive change" in their mindset with regard to Kashmir, understanding ground realities and the miseries of the people of Jammu Kashmir, which they had been facing for the last sixteen years.
While asking the "gun-wielding" youth to be wise enough and put away the gun once and for all, Azad said, "The issue of Kashmir cannot be settled inside jungles in isolation but across the dialogue table." About the confidence building measures (CBMs), Azad said, "The process started in 2000, during the regime of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr Farooq Abdullah, was being carried forward step by step, which had helped in realizing a considerable thaw in Indo-Pak relations." In this regard, he also added, "Stage is being prepared to initiate trade relations between the two countries through the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road." Regarding the release of political detenues, Azad informed, "The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, had asked Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, right after the January RTC, to arrange for release of political detenues, who did not have criminal cases against them.
His assurance would be realised as the state government is in process of preparing the list of such political detenues, which it expects to complete before March 30." He also added that officials of Central and state governments were meeting regularly to decide on the detenues' release.
Referring to the issue of talking to militants, as Sagar had raised in one of his supplementaries, Azad said, "I have remained associated with various accords between Centre and militant groups in Assam, Mizoram and Punjab.
Everywhere, it has been the national policy that for talks, militants have to give up their guns." Elaborating on it, Azad remarked, "Agar Ek Taraf PM Baithe Ho Aur Doosri Taraf Bandook Lekar Baithe Ho To Yeh To Mazaak Ban Jaayega." Raising supplementaries, Sagar had asked the Central and state governments to "grab the opportunity" thrown up by a recent statement of militant group, Hizbul Mujahideen, indicating that they were ready for dialogue.
He expressed concern over the ongoing "death-game" in Kashmir and wanted to know whether government was ready to take initiative to invite, once again, Geelani, to the peace talks, in the interest of people of Jammu and Kashmir.
He also praised General Musharraf for his changed ideology on Kashmir and called up on India to use the opportunity.
NC's Dr Mehboob Beg raised the issue of release of political detenues, who had no criminal cases against them.
When, in another supplementary, MLA Usman Abdul Majid asked whether there were any political prisoners in state jails, CM replied, "There are no political prisoners in the jails, only militants." Replying to various parts of the main question, CM said that government will hold a dialogue with all political parties, separatist leaders and militant organisations, provided they lay down arms and abjure violence.
About the incidents of violence in the state, Azad said, "These had decreased considerably and there has been no incident of unprovoked border firing in the recent past.
Eight suicide attacks were carried out by the militants during 2005 in which 17 security personnel, six civilians and 13 terrorists were killed." Azad added, "39 political activists have been killed in 2005 and no such killings took place in 2006 up to February 15." In 2005, thirty-five police personnel were killed while as it stood at 3 in 2006 said the government reply, while adding that killing of civilians stood at 517 in 2005 and 18 in 2006 till February 15, 2006.
He said that 55 SPOs/VDC members have been killed in 2005 and 4 such killings took place in 2006 while as 157 security force personnel were killed in 2005 and 6 in 2006 up to February 15 this year.
