NEW DELHI, Dec 5: The BJP is trying to induct former Kashmir militants into the party in the hope of making its presence felt in the Kashmir Valley during the Lok Sabha elections.Six members of the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Conference (JKAC), including two from its armed wing, the Jammu and Kashmir Ikhawan (JKI), attended the Muslim conference organised by the BJP Yuva Morcha yesterday, and are expected to soon accept the BJP's offer to join the party. They have held discussions with BJP President L K Advani and Atal Behari Vajpayee, among others.The JKI, whose political wing is the JKAC, is the largest counter-insurgency group fighting militancy in the Valley along with Indian security forces. Its members began as militants in 1989 along with Kuka Parrey but had a change of heart in 1995, when they joined hands with security forces.``We want Kashmiris to feel part of India, to have a national feeling. It will take time but we will prove that only the BJP is a friend of the Kashmiris, that it is untrue that it is a fundamentalist, anti-Muslim party,'' said Dada Bashir, an actor and writer who is a leading member of the JKAC.Bashir contested the State Assembly elections from Anantnag and lost by 300 votes. Once the decision is endorsed by all party members, the JKAC will merge with the BJP and contest the Lok Sabha polls under the Lotus symbol, he said. There are three Lok Sabha constituencies in the Valley, two in Jammu (of which one is held by the BJP) and one in Ladakh.While the JKAC is looking to the BJP for financial assistance and the backing of a powerful party, the advantages of such a merger would be considerable for the BJP. It would have an organisational set-up where none exists at present; even more, it would send a clear signal to Muslims all over the country that the BJP is not unacceptable to the community.The BJP's stand on abrogation of Article 370, uniform civil code and the Ram temple has not come in the way of the proposed merger. Article 370, which confers special status on Kashmir, including restriction on investment by non-Kashmiris, is impeding economic development in the Valley, say JKAC members.As for the uniform civil code and Ram temple issues, these can be sorted out through dialogue, said Bashir. ``The BJP is not perfect, it has its faults. There is no party of angels. We thought we should try out the BJP once,'' he remarked.According to Liyaqat Hilal Hyder Ali, chairman of JKI, the BJP's chief attraction is its ``clear-cut policy''. ``The Congress and National Conference are hypocritical and follow double standards,'' he said, blaming the National Conference for the problems of the Valley.
