Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has told Hurriyat moderate Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and separatist leader Yasin Malik that not only will the ‘‘interest of the Kashmiri people’’ be kept in mind but he will also make efforts to involve them in the India-Pakistan peace process. Given the differences between the Hurriyat factions, the General met their leaders separately at Pakistan House for over three and half hours before attending the dinner hosted by Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan. Describing his meeting with Musharraf as ‘‘satisfactory’’, Umer Farooq said that the President agreed to give priority to ‘‘interest of the people of Kashmir’’ and try to increase their involvement while stepping up people-to-people contact. Musharraf is said to have given similar assurances to Yasin Malik and Shabir Shah who sought more involvement of Kashmiris in the peace process. Musharraf also brought up the issue of lack of unity in the Hurriyat. But hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani, in a statement to the media, said: ‘‘The delegation requested President Musharraf to differentiate between pro-movement and anti-movement people and not to bank upon people who are out to sell themselves for petty political gains’’. The Mirwaiz, accompanied by Bilal Lone and Maulana Abbas Ansari, demanded that more land routes between the two countries be opened and those jailed in Jammu and Kashmir released. ‘‘We support the peace process and it cannot be held hostage to the issue of unity in the Hurriyat. But the peace process will remain incomplete if people are not involved,’’ Umer Farooq told reporters after emerging from the meeting. At a separate meeting, Geelani was told by Musharraf that though Kashmir remained the ‘‘core issue’’, he had a ‘‘specific strategy’’ in mind and was working to solve the problem accordingly. Musharraf mentioned his Kashmir strategy while responding to Geelani’s complaint that Pakistan had ‘‘abandoned’’ the people of Kashmir and ‘‘the movement’’ of the people. Rejecting the peace process, Geelani told Musharraf that the Kashmiris were ‘‘confused’’ because of Pakistan’s support to the peace process. Speaking to The Indian Express later, Geelani said that he had asked the President to ‘‘take a harder line and treat Kashmir as the core issue’’ as he had done during the Agra summit. ‘‘The peace process and confidence building measures have had no effect on the suffering of the people of Kashmir. They are sending confusing signals because there has been no change in the situation on the ground in Kashmir,’’ Geelani said.
