Roadmap in hand, Hurriyat goes to people

Disclosing this at the Hurriyat headquarters today, Prof Bhat said they had already informed India, Pakistan and world leaders that the Hurriyat has prepared a roadmap for the resolution of the Kashmir problem.

‘‘The Hurriyat leadership is going to lead not to be led. The people of Kashmir are a basic party in the dispute and the problem will never be resolved unless some bold initiatives are taken by all the sides. All the parties have to show flexibility if they want to resolve the Kashmir dispute,’’ he said.

‘‘In our meetings with Deputy Prime Minister Advani and the Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmad Khan, we told them of the roadmap but have not yet discussed it in detail. To keep the Kashmiri people aware of the developments vis-a-vis Kashmir, the Hurriyat leadership is going to share all the details with the common masses. If necessary we will again seek a mandate from the common people to continue our dialogue process with the Centre’’ he said.

He said the Hurriyat has maintained transparency from the day it decided to hold talks with the Centre. ‘‘Before going to Delhi, we sought a mandate from the people of Kashmir at a big congregation at the Jamia mosque,’’ he said, adding that the Hurriyat entered into talks with the Centre not to seek power or any personnel benefits but to resolve the Kashmir problem.

Showing optimism for the next round of Centre-Hurriyat talks — scheduled to be held in June — Bhat said that he is hopeful that the Hurriyat would achieve a major breakthrough before the third round of talks.

‘‘The statement of the DPM asking for a substantive dialogue has raised our hopes. I am sure the talks now will focus on Kashmir,’’ he said.

The former Hurriyat chairman said the Kashmir problem is a long-pending dispute and India and Pakistan have fought wars on the Kashmir. ‘‘India and Pakistan are atomic powers. Now they have to resolve the Kashmir problem. America and other countries are also pressing both the nations to solve the problem,’’ he said.