Wajahat Habibullah meets hardline separatist leader Geelani

Asked whether he had asked him to join “quiet diplomacy” initiated by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram with separatist leaders in the state,the 64-year-old bureaucrat laughed and said “I had only gone to pay my regards but yes I did mention to him in passing reference that he should also join.

“But that was purely a suggestion as I have no mandate to ask him to join the dialogue process.”

The CIC said the separatist leader had his own views about the government to which “I only said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government was sincerely trying to find a solution to Kashmir problem.”

“To sum up,it was a nice meeting after several months,and a nice treat to Kashmiri Kahawa and Tabakmaaz (fried meat),” Habibullah,who was an IAS officer from the state,said.

The 81-year-old separatist leader is in the national capital for last three weeks and underwent a cataract surgery. He is likely to go for another surgery next month.