No contact with India — Hizbul

He also took exception to former Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s reported remarks that the Hizbul leader Abdul Majid Dar had announced the ceasefire on August 24 without taking into confidence the organisation’s Pakistan-based chief Syed Salahuddin. The ceasefire decision was unanimously arrived at after due deliberations at the outfit’s base camp, Masood said adding he was present at the discussions.

Meanwhile, the newly elected chairman of the Hurriyat Conference, Abdul Ghani Bhat, today said the Kashmir issue could be resolved only by tripartite talks among India, Pakistan and representatives of the Valley. The ceasefire by the Hizbul would not restore peace in Jammu and Kashmir, he said.

“Talks among the three parties have to take place and there is no alternative to it. The ceasefire offer has to come from Pakistan, India and people of Kashmir,” Bhat said in an interview to Eenadu TV.

Bhat, who was in the capital, said the other course to resolve the decades-old disputes was by giving the people right for self-determination.

“Whatsoever results will emerge after the referendum would have to be accepted by the three parties–India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir,” Bhat said. He said the referendum should be held in areas of Kashmir (ceded to China by Pakistan) and Gilgit and Baltistan if necessary.