`We may not like the mercenaries but we have no choice'

The leader of Kashmir's All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), Abdul Gani Lone, has traversed a long way through all the mainstream Indian political parties -- Congress, Janata Party, and later his own outfit, Peoples' Conference. During his 50 years of public life, Lone has always advocated a radical stand on Kashmir. In his latest incarnation as a hardline Kashmiri secessionist leader, Lone was in USA recently. Here he had urged the world community to treat Kashmir problem at a par with East Timor and Kosovo.

Today, the 68-year-old militant is back in India. He complains that the Indian authorities did not permit him to complete his treatment. He remains a hawk yet, for the first time, speaks of his disillusionment with Pakistan in this interview with AASHA KHOSA.

Was your US trip fruitful?
I found a greater awareness about the Kashmir problem in US this time. Everyone -- journalists, State department officials, intellectuals recognises that Kashmir remained a disputewhich needs an amicable settlement. When I had last visited the US in 1983, hardly anyone cared about Kashmir.

You even seem to have met former Pakistan foreign minister Sartaj Aziz in New York.
Aziz happened to be there for the United Nations' General Assembly. Basically, I told him what the All Parties Hurriyat Conference felt about Kargil. See we had differences of preception with Pakistan on Kargil. APHC felt that Lahore Declaration and Kargil could not go together. If, in the first place, India and Pakistan took pledges to resolve their disputes in a friendly manner, Pakistan should have adhered to that commitment. The APHC was opposed to the Lahore Declaration. But why Kargil after such a bold step? Aziz, however, had a point when he claimed that, overall, Kargil was an achievement for Kashmiris and Pakistan since it internationalised the Kashmir situation.

But Kargil also saw America come out in favour of India.
Indians are in a self-congratulatory mood over Kargil. Weknow that Indians are not going to settle the Kashmir issue themselves. The US had acted as a persuasive force on Pakistan in Kargil and tomorrow it may do it to India too.

But how does this mud-slinging between India and Pakistan help you?
Who cares for us? Neither India nor Pakistan care for our sentiments. We expected the least from India but see even Pakistan once bluntly told us they were the lords of our destiny. Shamshad (Pakistan's foreign secretary) had the guts to tell us not to rake up the issue of the representation of Kashmiris when the Indo-Pak dialogue was taking place. He claimed Pakistan will take care of the Kashmiri cause. We had rejected that stand. APHC has its own agenda and the world will ultimately realise that we will not be dictated by anyone.

Indians, however, don't believe that yours is a neutral organisation.
The Indian propaganda on Kashmir is so powerful and the majority of Indians have a certain mindset about Kashmir. Explaining things to anyoneis like hitting your head on a stone. See there is an attitude within the government of India that perceives us as Muslims and therefore it does not want to talk to us. It has no problems in talking with rebels in the Northeast and that too in some other country. But it has categorically rejected any proposal for talks with us. Indian politicians whip up hysteria over Kashmir. And why not? Some of them have regained power through propaganda over Kargil. That is why nobody is sincere in resolving the Kashmir problem realistically.

Are you suggesting talks?
No way. I am wondering why the Indian public and governments don't even care to consider where they have gone wrong in Kashmir. I am questioning Indian's sincerity in claiming Kashmir as an integral part of India. Have they ever bothered to know why Kashmiris overwhelmingly boycotted elections recently? Why did Farooq Abdullah put all the Hurriyat Conference leaders behind the bars after that embarrassing election? After all, both the centraland state leadership had been claiming the situation in Kashmir has improved. Does the boycott reflect normalcy? Why doesn't the Indian public seek answers to these questions from their government.

But how does the APHC explain the involvement of foreign mercenaries in Kashmir? Doesn't it damage your cause.
Again I would put the blame on Indian intransigence. The armed struggle in Kashmir started in 1989. India has ever since been answering Kashmiri resentment with bullets and suppression. It is but natural for Muslims all over the world to react to the plight of Kashmiris, more so when there is provision for jihad in Islam. Personally, many Kashmiris may not like the intervention of mercenaries but we have no choice. People generally believe that these mercenaries are there for liberating them from their oppressors. The security forces may tell you that the local people are against mercenaries. This is not true. See the recent attack on Army headquarters. Do you think the foreign mujahideenhave done it on their own? They must have been helped by local people.

But leaders like you have always asked Pakistan to keep mercenaries away from Kashmir.
Nothing is in our hands until the Indian government treats Kashmiris humanely. They have to give up the bullet-for-bullet policy and volunteer for a dialogue with Kashmiris as they are doing in the Northeast. Only this will enable us to prevail upon outsiders to keep off Kashmir. Till then, just as we have no choice in getting out of the clutches of the Indian armed forces, we have no role in either inviting or throwing out the foreigners.

Pakistan experienced a military coup recently. How does this affect your cause?
I have always believed democracy has not taken root in Pakistan while India is a strong democracy. But for Kashmiris the choice is limited. We have to choose between an India which is suppressing and humiliating Kashmiris with its military power and a Pakistan that has been supporting our movement at everystep.

The Indian mite is crushing our bodies, soul and egos and, at such a time, even a word of sympathy from Pakistan is soothing.

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