Under increasing pressure from hardliners over human rights violations in the state, the Hurriyat Conference today said that unless these stopped, it would walk out of talks with New Delhi. ‘‘There is no need for the Hurriyat to go for the second round of talks with Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani if the violations are not put to an end,’’ Hurriyat chairman Maulana Abbas Ansari said here. ‘‘We are monitoring the situation. The next round of talks slated for March end will only take place if there is a check on these.Talks and violations cannot go hand in hand.’’ The Hurriyat’s renewed threat to pull out comes a week after Fazal Haq Qureshi—who was a part of the five-member team that held the first round of talks with Advani—disassociated himself from the process over the same issue. Ansari regretted that despite promises by Advani, excesses ‘‘perpetuated by Indian security forces’’ were continuing. He pointed out that the DPM had even met top Army, police and security officials and told them to be sensitive in their operations. ‘‘The DPM’s instructions in the wake of killings of five innocent civilians at Bandipore did not stop the forces from killing an old man in Naristan, Traal,just two days ago,’’ the Hurriyat chairman pointed out. Ansari insisted that they didn’t want to ‘‘shy away’’ from talks but that an atmosphere had to be built where in ‘‘a purposeful and meaningful dialogue’’ was possible. Senior Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Bhat echoed his views: ‘‘We’re not saying that talks wouldn’t contine and we would pull out. But for talks to be meaningful, an end to human rights violations is necessary. The promises made by Mr Advani should be implemented on the ground.’’ The Hurriyat has been under immense pressure over the issue, with several members at the last general council meeting asking the executives to suspend the peace process till atrocities by security forces stopped. However, a pull-out would mean strengthening the position of hawks like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who have been opposing negotiations from the beginning. Today again, separatist leader Shabir Shah urged the Hurriyat to suspend dialogue with New Delhi. ‘‘We believe that the way people are being killed and whole neighbourhoods destroyed, it’s advisable to suspend the dialogue.’’ According to him, a ceasefire should precede talks. The ruling People’s Democratic Party, however, advised against any such hasty step. PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti said dialogue was still the best bet. ‘‘Mr Advani’s word hasn’t had impact on the ground but taking cognisance of the reports of violations is a step forward. For 15 years, we had no dialogue. What did that yield? More bloodshed.’’
