Hurriyat to call on PM, to meet Advani in March

The government and the separatist conglomerate, Hurriyat Conference, appear to have covered a substantial ground in their first round of talks at the north block office of Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani by putting aside contentious issues and resolving to meet again in March.

During their two-hour discussion with Advani, the Hurriyat delegation comprising Hurriyat chief Maulana Abbas Ansari, Abdul Ghani Bhat, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Fazal-ul Haq Qureshi, both sides came up with the similar response about the talks and described it a "significant step" to resolve the contentious issues.

Advani was assisted by NN Vohra, the Centre's interlocutor on Jammu and Kashmir, and N Gopalaswamy, Union home secretary.

That the dialogue were held in the spirit of give and take was evident from the fact that while the home ministry conceded the Hurriyat's point of view to review the cases of political detenues in the Jammu and Kashmir, the separatist conglomerate gave up its insistence on holding tri-partite talk (including Pakistan) to resolve the issues.

The home ministry later released a synopsis, which outlined the areas of discussion between the Deputy Prime Minister and the Hurriyat leaders.

The synopsis, prepared by Vohra and agreed upon by the Hurriyat leaders, indicated a cautious approach adopted by both the sides in avoiding the sensitive issues.

Talking to reporters, Advani, said the initiation of talks with the Hurriyat was a "good beginning" and was a move towards bringing back those elements not part of the political process into the mainstream.

Advani referred to the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's commitment of holding free and fair elections in the state and conveyed the delegation his feeling that it would have been better if the Hurriyat leaders had participated in the polls.

During the discussions, Advani said, he also referred to efforts by Vajpayee to make peace with Pakistan and which culminated into a joint statement by the Prime Minister and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.

He said in this new situation, the violence must come to an end. As the meeting came to an end after marathon session, Hurriyat leaders made a request to Advani to and expressed their desire to pay courtesy call to the Prime Minister.

After Advani's conversation with the Prime Minister, it was decided that the Hurriyat leaders would meet him on Friday.

All this is being taken as a sign of bonhomie developed between both the sides during the talks, which is the first of its kind with the separatist conglomerate of J&K with the second-most important functionary of the government.