By IANS,
Srinagar : Both groups of the separatist Hurriyat Conference as also the Muzaffarabad-based militant conglomerate, United Jihad Council, Tuesday rejected the dialogue offer of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
During his two-day visit to Kashmir, the prime minister renewed his offer of dialogue to all those groups who shun violence in Jammu and Kashmir.
Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, who heads the moderate Hurriyat Conference, while rejecting the talks offer, said that “conducive conditions shall have to precede the initiation of talks” and demanded “repealing of the draconian laws, release of political prisoners and withdrawal of troops”.
“Until these conditions are met, no dialogue is possible with New Delhi,” the Mirwaiz said.
He said India, Pakistan and leadership of Kashmiri people have “to sit together to find a solution to the problem to usher in an era of peace and development in the region”.
The Mirwaiz, however, welcomed the statement of the prime minister that India wanted friendly relations with Pakistan. “It is possible only when the two countries settle the issue after involving the Kashmiri leadership in the dialogue process.”
The Mirwaiz described as “routine” the statement of the prime minister on the human rights situation and demanded strict punishment for the violators.
Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, in a statement, said there was “nothing new in the offer” which he said, “India has been parroting for the past 63 years”.
Geelani thanked the people of Kashmir Valley for their massive response to his strike call and said “the jamming of the mobile phones must have convinced the prime minister that he was not in any Indian part but on an alien land”.
“The prime minister saw just 400 to 500 faces which are all servants of his government receiving monthly remuneration and who have no stakes whether the Kashmiri lives or dies”.
The United Jihad Council described the offer as “old wine in new bottle” and rejected it.