Conferences are futile: Hurriyat

SRINAGAR: Minutes after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the second roundtable conference, Kashmiri separatists said such events would only complicate rather then solve any problem.

“The Prime Minister is talking to his own men rather than the people who have a difference of opinion with him. This conference will not solve any problem,” Bilal Gani Lone, senior executive committee member of the moderate Hurriyat Conference, told DNA.

Lone, however, added that they are committed to the process of dialogue with the prime minister.

Singh in his inaugural address said all forms of dialogue should continue. In this connection, he said the dialogue with Hurriyat Conference was positive. “They are prepared to take this forward and ready to prepare special proposals. I hope that at the appropriate time they will join us,” he said.

Hardliners however categorically rejected the call of the Prime Minister. “Unless New Delhi accepts Kashmir as a disputed area, withdraws all its forces and implements UN resolutions, we will not join any dialogue process,” Syed Ali Shah Geelani, chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference told DNA.Buoyed by the complete shutdown, Geelani added that it is an eye-opener for the government.