Ex-PoK PM seeks safe passage for militants returning home

Adding a new dimension to the issue of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, former PoK prime minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum today sought “safe passage” for militants in the state to return home.

Adding a new dimension to the issue of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, former PoK prime minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum today sought “safe passage” for militants in the state to return home. “Militant camps in Pakistan have been dismantled. But maybe some belonging to the LeT school of thought are still on that side (Jammu and Kashmir), waiting for a safe passage to return home (to PoK),” Qayyum said.

He said the matter was already under discussion with the Indian Government “at various levels”. “We are ready to accept them. Instead of keeping the irritant there, it is better that they are moved to this side,” he said. Qayyum, who is here with a delegation from PoK, was speaking on the Kashmir issue at a discussion organised by the Observer Research Foundation. Asked about criticism that India had not responded adequately to President Musharraf’s proposals on Kashmir, he said, “I think India has responded quite adequately. Given the difficulties they have to face, they have sufficiently responded.” He felt that if confidence building measures were followed with trust, “we can travel the distance earlier than we thought of”.

On a solution to the Kashmir issue, Qayyum said, “Anything that saves Kashmir and the Kashmiris should be acceptable.” But he stressed on people-to-people contact, saying this did not have to wait for “the solution”, which has not yet been found in 60 years. “People can bring political and moral pressure on politicians,” he said. He praised Musharraf for stopping activities in militant camps in Pakistan. “Musharraf should get credit, only he could do it,” Qayyum said. Saying such camps existed in both parts of Kashmir, he maintained there were “no camps in Azad Kashmir”. As for those on the Indian side, he felt “most would still be there”.

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He also came out in defence of LeT, held responsible by India for major militant acts in recent times, saying the group which had “no political motives, purely religious motives” had “ceased its activities”.

In any case, he remarked, he did not agree with the term terrorism to describe movement like the one in Kashmir. “This was coined after 9/11,” he argued, saying he had been part of it himself at one point of time. He did, however, agree that there were “some acts of terrorism”.

Asked about the Talibanisation of Waziristan, Qayyum conceded that this affected the peace of the country. “But this has no direct bearing on Kashmir,” he added. He was critical of the Emma Nicholson report, saying this was based on preconceived notions. Panther’s Party leader Bhim Singh, who had organised the group’s visit to India, said “borders can become irrelevant only if the people on both sides are made relevant”.

Those who attended the discussion included the Centre’s interlocutor on Kashmir N N Vohra and former J-K Governor G C Saxena.

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On the boycott of the Prime Minister’s third roundtable on Kashmir by separatist groups, he said, “They (Kashmiri leaders) should take part in talks and conferences, whoever is the organiser. Unless they sit across the table and discuss things, how can the problems be solved? Meetings and talks should not be given up.”