‘Next round, we’ll have structured talks’

Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today said the ‘‘Government of India has agreed to discuss out-of-the-box solutions to Kashmir’’ and has asked the separatist ...

Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today said the ‘‘Government of India has agreed to discuss out-of-the-box solutions to Kashmir’’ and has asked the separatist conglomerate to come up with a mechanism to turn these talks into a structured dialogue. Mirwaiz, however, said the Hurriyat had not promised to participate in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Kashmir roundtable in Srinagar later this month.

In an interview with The Indian Express soon after a six-member team of Hurriyat met the Prime Minister in New Delhi, Mirwaiz said the Hurriyat delegation had not gone with a list of demands this time. ‘‘Our emphasis was to discuss the larger issue. We discussed self-governance, United States of Kashmir and Kathwari proposal,’’ he said. ‘‘The PM agreed to discuss all these out-of-the-box solutions. In fact, they did not reject anything.’’

Mirwaiz said the PM asked them to return with a mechanism in the next round so that all these solutions could be discussed. ‘‘The PM has left it entirely on the Hurriyat. He said if you want to return next week, we are ready to talk,’’ Mirwaiz said.

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‘‘Now we have to choose a team comprising economic, legal and constitutional experts. And I hope we will be able to have the next round soon. We will have a structured format for the dialogue.’’ Mirwaiz said they will have a similar structured process with Pakistan as well. ‘‘We would like to talk to them as well. They too will have suggestions,’’ he said.

Mirwaiz said his delegation told the PM that the Centre needed to take immediate measures to bring relief to people in Kashmir. ‘‘We told him (PM Singh) that there were certain issues that had to be discussed between the Centre, Kashmiri leadership and Pakistan. But there are certain issues that we need to talk only with you, like release of prisoners, black laws and human rights violations,’’ Mirwaiz said.

‘‘The PM was very positive. He said that although these issues are sensitive, we want Kashmiris to feel the relief immediately.’’

Mirwaiz said the recent Doda massacre too was raised in the meeting. ‘‘We told him that there is a huge vested interest in J&K that does not want Kashmir to move towards a peaceful solution. This vested interest needs to be checked from both sides,’’ he said.

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‘‘We told him that such incidents happen whenever there is any move to push forth the peace process and both sides need to understand the rationale behind such barbaric acts.’’

Asked about the Centre’s individual engagements with other separatists and the forthcoming Kashmir rountable conference in Srinagar, which will be attended by mainstream political parties as well, Mirwaiz said the PM accepts Hurriyat’s role. ‘‘This dialogue will be only with Hurriyat,’’ he said.

‘‘The issue of the participation in the roundtable did arise and we told him that we have no problem if it is not a crowd.’’ Asked what he meant by a crowd, Mirwaiz said that instead of 70-odd people, the government should just invite important political parties.

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