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H S Rao in London
Altaf Hussain, exiled leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which is spearheading a stir against discrimination to Urdu-speaking migrants in Pakistan, plans to visit India and meet Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The London-based Hussain told PTI in an interview that he wanted to visit his ancestral home in Agra, but declined to spell out why he wanted to meet Vajpayee.
However, in an interview to Newswallahs, a UK-based television and radio production unit, he said he would write to the Indian government, seeking permission to visit India to talk to Vajpayee and "explain to the Muslims of India how the economic and human rights abuses are being perpetrated on the poor in Pakistan".
He said Vajpayee's invitation to Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf for talks was "a good step towards establishment of peace in the region".
"The invitation of Vajpayee to Musharraf is a good step and it is a goodwill gesture and hopefully it will help resolve the Kashmir issue through negotiations," he said.
Stating that Musharraf's decision to accept the invitation was a positive sign, Hussain said conflicts and disputes could only be resolved through dialogue.
Hussain said that after witnessing the destruction caused by the two World Wars, a lesson has been learnt that "war is not a solution" to any conflict.
"Sincere and meaningful dialogue is the best way to resolve outstanding issues. This was evident from the fact that European countries which had fought each other in the first and second World Wars have now come together to form the European Union," he said.
"If Europe can do it, why can't we do it," he asked.
Hussain said India and Pakistan should live together like friendly neighbours and not as enemies.
On the Kashmir issue, he said, "Kashmiri people should be provided with an opportunity to choose their own destiny."
In his interview to the Newswallahs, Hussain said the Pakistani army has made a scapegoat of the Kashmir issue to keep the poor oppressed in Pakistan.
"They are keeping the Kashmir issue alive so that they spend about 80 per cent of the budget on defence and thereby not leave any means for the poor to improve their conditions, be able to earn a living and get education."
He said Pakistan's elite and its military leaders, and not India, are to blame for its economic and political woes.
"The long-standing nexus between Pakistan's defence establishment and feudal elite is keeping non-existent military problems alive so that the army can retain the upper hand in the conduct of the country," the MQM leader said.
Hussain ruled out hopes of finding any common ground with Pakistan's military rulers. "A dialogue with Musharraf will not make him change plans," he said.
Musharraf, in a recent interview, said Hussain had no place in Pakistani politics.
The MQM leader alleged that Mohajirs, largely consisting Muslims from India who fled to Pakistan, were systematically tortured, imprisoned and killed by the Inter Service Intelligence and Pakistan army.
"More than 15,000 Mohajirs have been killed in a 'genocide' perpetuated by the army of Pakistan," he said.
He accused the ISI of conspiring to kill him.
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