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Basharat Peer in Srinagar
The separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference on Saturday challenged Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's contention that the Kashmir poll was a vote for India and dared the Centre to hold a plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir, if it was confident enough.
"Vajpayee has said that Kashmiri voters have voted for democracy and for the unity of India. It is not so. Those who voted, did so because of coercion and anger against the excesses of the state, the Centre and the security forces," the outfit's chairman, Professor Abdul Gani Bhat, said.
"If India believes that it was a vote for India, then why don't they organise a plebiscite and keep Kashmir for good. If they are confident that Kashmiris would vote for India and if the referendum favours them, we would be the first ones to congratulate them," he added.
The separatist leader asserted that even those who were a part of the electoral process did say that the assembly election was not an answer to the Kashmir question. "Even those who are involved in government formation like the Peoples' Democratic Party have said that elections are no answer. So has the National Conference chief, Omar Abdullah."
Reacting to an earlier statement of US Secretary of State Colin Powell that the assembly election should be 'inclusive' and political prisoners should be released, Bhat said, "But the APHC did not participate in the elections and the political prisoners were not released. It did not happen and so the election was not the first step towards solving the problem. If it would have worked that way, we could have gone the Ireland way."
But he called for a dialogue to solve the Kashmir problem, emphasising that there was a need to recognise the ground realities and proceed with openness and courage towards the resolution of the problem.
"If there are problems in the way of a plebiscite, then the only way out is a purposeful and positive dialogue between India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir. If they take one step, we will take ten," he said.
He also talked about giving up the 'traditionally rigid positions' by all the parties involved. "Let us rise above yesterday and capture tomorrow. Let us talk with openness and imagination."
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