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Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, JAN 7: The Centre is considering issuing travel documents to the seven executive members of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) for their trip to Pakistan — a pre-condition laid by the Kashmiri separatist conglemerate for cooperating with India’s peace initiative in Kashmir.
Official sources said the Union Home Ministry has called for the files on at least eight Hurriyat leaders — seven executive members of APHC and a JKLF leader — from the Regional Passport Office in Srinagar. The case of Jamat-e-islami leader Sayeed Ali Shah Geelani, who recently said that Hurriyat leaders will not persuade the Pakistan-based insurgents to stop violence in Kashmir, is also being considered.
The seven APHC leaders are Prof. Abdul Ghani Bhat, chairman of APHC, Yasin Malik, Abdul Gani Lone, Mirwaiz Omer Farooq, Moulvi Abbas Ansari, Sheikh Abdul Aziz and Sayeed Ali Shah Geelani. Besides, the application of Javed Ahmed Mir of the JKLF is also being examined, Home Ministry sources said.
While S.A.S. Geelani, Sheikh Abdul Aziz, Prof. Bhat and Javed Ahmed Mir have applied afresh for the passports, the government is considering releasing the impounded passports of three other members. Mirwaiz is the only Hurriyat leader with a valid passport, which was issued to him last year.
The government’s action comes within days of the Hurriyat Conference’s firm demand for passports to all executive members. Sources said the ultimate decision to clear the travel documents to the Hurriyat leaders will be a “political one”. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will issue passports only after the Home Ministry clears names of the Hurriyat leaders, who among others are listed as persons restricted from traveling abroad.
Meanwhile, Prof. Abdul Ghani Bhat, APHC chairman, today told The Indian Express that the agenda for the Hurriyat leaders’ Pakistan visit will be disclosed only after the government hands passports to all the executive committee members. “We are going to Islamabad on the invitation of the Pakistan government,” he said.
Faced with the bickerings between the moderates and hadliners within the militant and Hurriyat circles, Bhat is on a tightrope walk on all major issues facing the separatist conglomerate. Asked if he was ready to speak to the Pakistan-based militant groups to shun violence in Kashmir, Bhat said, “We will talk to our boys.”
