Make headway on Kashmir and we will respond positively: Hizb

The Hizbul Mujahideen today said it would respond positively if some headway was made on the Kashmir issue in the ongoing Indo-Pak initiative.

In a fax sent to a local agency, Hizbul supreme commander Syed Salahuddin said the Hizb was not averse to the dialogue process. Salahuddin claimed there was no ban or restrictions on the outfit and said such reports were created by the media and some leaders to cause misgivings among the people towards Hizb.

The Hizb chief said if the Centre wanted a solution, it must accept Kashmir as ‘‘disputed’’ and hold talks with Pakistan and Kashmiri leadership. If the Centre did so, ‘‘we would respond positively,’’ he said. Salahuddin said the separatist movement in Kashmir was not terrorism but a ‘‘just struggle for the right of self-determination under UN resolutions and international charter’’.