The conference was presided over by Dawah chief Hafiz Muhammad Sayeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Toiba. The Jamat-ud-Dawah’s official line is that it’s a humanitarian relief organization and has no correlation with the banned Lashkar-e-Toiba.

“I had the chance to address the conference in Lahore and thank Pakistani people for their cooperation,” Shah told The Indian Express. Shah, who is leading the initiative for Hurriyat unity, also handles Hurriyat affairs these days in the absence of chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq who is in Cairo on a personal visit. “I feel obliged to Jamat-ud-Dawah for giving me this opportunity,” Shah said.

Last year, the waving of a lone Jamaat-ud-Dawah flag at a Geelani public rally had led to a national uproar over the issue which ended with the arrest of six close aides of Geelani. Both Shah and Geelani in their speeches called for the “re-invigoration of the Azadi struggle in Kashmir”.

With Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf hemmed in by the violence in the North-West and the political backlash after the assassination if Benazir Bhutto, separatist groups on either side are trying to wrest the initiative.

No wonder, therefore, that the Jamat-ud-Dawah has made striking adjustments of its own vis-à-vis Kashmir by stopping differentiating between moderate and hawkish separatists. Letting Shah address the solidarity rally alongside Geelani is a strong signal of recognition to moderates led by Mirwaiz. Shah has been instrumental in the recent unity efforts which saw the return of four significant Kashmiri separatists to the Hurriyat fold, including Shah himself.

Warming up of the radicals in Pakistan to Hurriyat doves is being seen as a result of the growing distance between Hurriyat and New Delhi which over time seems to have Hurriyat hawk Geelani, dove Shabir address Lashkar front restored their credibility in the eyes of even the militant groups operating in the Valley. Recently, United Jihad Council, led by Syed Salahuddin and even the Lashker hailed Hurriyat unity efforts.

This is a far cry from the time when Salahuddin and Lashkar refused to meet Mirwaiz on his visit to Pakistan and PoK last year. Even Pak Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad had given Mirwaiz a slip when he visited the party’s Lahore headquarters, leaving only his daughter, herself a Mutahida Majlis Amal MP to receive him.

Now senior Dawah leader Hafiz Abdur Rehman Makki, while welcoming Hurriyat unity has also called for inclusion of Geelani and JKLF supremo Yaseen Malik. “We are happy over the new separatist political alliances being forged in Kashmir. But we think that the inclusion of Geelani and Malik in the alliance is a must,” Makki said at a separate Dawah seminar at a community centre in Aabpara in Islamabad which, among others, was also attended by retired Pak generals like the former ISI chief Hamid Gul.

Hamid Gul, in his speech, not only termed Musharraf’s Kashmir policy a failure but also called for a renewed push to take Kashmir even if took Pakistan to engage in “thirty more wars” with India than the earlier three. Gul, however, said that “Kashmir’s liberation was not possible until US left Afghanistan.”