CM’s statement on Kashmir dialogue process ambiguous, alleges Soz

Srinagar: Alleging that Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s statement on dialogue process on Kashmir with hurriyat was ambiguous, senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Prof Saifudd Soz said asked if the separatist leadership had been invited for talks by the centre.
“The Chief Minister’s categorical statement asking the Hurriyat to reciprocate and accept the offer for dialogue and save lives, rather, puts the Hurriyat in ‘dock’, as if the Hurriyat has received the invitation and it (the Hurriyat) is hiding it from the people!” Prof Soz said in a statement here on Monday afternoon.
He said the CM is supposed to know the facts better than anybody as for central government  is concerned and she has made the statement purportedly to ask the Hurriyat to accept the offer.
“But, then, it could also mean the Hurriyat has got the invitation, away from the public gaze”, he said.
However, he said that certain knowledgeable civil society members confirmed to me the fact that to the best of their knowledge, the Hurriyat had not received any invitation for a dialogue. He said these sources also claimed that Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq and Mohammad Yaseen Malik had made things since clear that it was ready for a dialogue if offered at a ‘Political Level’.
The Chief Minister’s statement can give birth to misgivings among the people, unless the JRL makes things clear in this behalf’, he said.
Meanwhile, the ruling segment of the coalition –the PDP should have a clear idea of the significance of the dialogue on ‘KASHMIR’, he added.
The former minister said when the Centre had shown its nerve to talk to Lal Denga in 1986 to end the crisis in Mizoram, it was a genuine and transparent process. As compared to Mizoram, Kashmir happens to be a nationally and internationally recognized dispute. Should the Hurriyat respond to certain imagined gestures only? The CM should make her statement clear”, he asked.