Kashmir on its mind, Govt ropes in a former hijacker

Politically, though, Qureshi’s credibility in the Valley is suspect. He is seen as a former rebel who has now been ‘‘playing India’s game’’. However, Hashim could be of some use to India as a Kashmiri who accuses Pakistan and its stooges for the violence against Kashmiris. But the Hurriyat reserved its comment for now. ‘‘We are baffled at his decision to come back, we will have to see why he is here and what role, if any, he plays in Kashmir,’’ said Hurriyat spokesman G M Bandey.

Hashim’s two books on Pakistan’s gameplan in Kashmir have been widely circulated by Indian missions abroads, at least that was the allegation levelled by the Pakistani delegation during the since abandoned Secretary- level Indo-Pak talks in New Delhi.

That Qureshi was a thorn in the eyes of Pakistan was revealed when Islamabad listed his name, among others, as a front-runner anti-Pakistan propagandist to the government of India when the two governments agreed to check ‘‘venomous propaganda’’ against each other.

A year ago, the Amsterdam-based JKLF leader had sent his two children to study in a public school in Himachal Pradesh who have since moved to a Srinagar college. At that time, Qureshi said he had been accused of being a RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) agent. He had claimed that unlike the Hurriyat leaders and the Pakistani elite who send their children to Western countries for education, he would like his children to grow up in their native place.

Sources said Qureshi had been in touch with the Government ever since his children’s return. New Delhi seems to have finally given a go-ahead for Qureshi’s return at a time when peace initiatives on Kashmir are underway.

Qureshi, who hails from the Nowhatta locality of downtown Srinagar, was a 17-year-old JKLF activist when he along with five others, including his brother Ashraf Qureshi, hijacked the Delhi-bound Indian Airlines plane from Srinagar to Lahore. The plane was later bombed by the hijakers at the airport after all passengers were evacuated.

Ashraf, who has since settled in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK), is another of the surviving hijackers.

Qureshi is being taken to Srinagar by a special team of Jammu and Kashmir police tomorrow . He faces the case of skyjacking in Srinagar too. However whether the Jammu and Kashmir government too has agreed to take a lenient view of the case is still not known.