'We want New Delhi and Islamabad to include Kashmiris in the talks while addressing the Kashmir issue,' Hurriyat chairman Mohammad Abbas Ansari said.
The two factions of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference on Tuesday reacted cautiously to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's proposal to demilitarise some regions of Kashmir on both sides of the Line of Control and grant them automomy.
In identical public notices published in local newspapers, they distanced themselves from separatist politics.
'India should be more confident and let Pakistanis meet Hurriyat leaders. India's main concern is terrorism, and India should talk terrorism. If that means talking Kashmir, so be it. India can't answer terror with terror because we don't have terror factories. India can't answer terrorism with war because we both have nuclear weapons. That leaves talks as the only option,' says Shivam Vij.
The Hizbul Mujahideen chief said he could not back their peace moves or any future Kashmir solution unless hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was taken on board, local media reported.
The Army on Monday rubbished allegations levelled by hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani that the force was trying to hush up the alleged rape of a woman by two men in uniform in south Kashmir last week.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has made arrangements and undertaken tight security measures to ensure a hassle-free journey for separatist leaders going to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir through the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route.
Differences had cropped up within the hard-line faction after Geelani rejected the invitation to visit Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on June 2 and further hardened his stand.\n
The separatist outfit wants to understand the Northern Ireland peace process and determine if it can be applied to the Kashmir problem.
Pro-Pakistan leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's death has brought to an end a chapter of anti-India and separatist politics in Kashmir.
"We have no objection if they [the Hurriyat leaders] want to travel to Delhi and hold talks with the Indian leadership," he said.
Claiming that the state has not changed a bit and the arrests and killings continued, the Hurriyat spokesman said a lot of noise has been made about the dialogue process.
A visiting delegation of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference on Sunday met leaders from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. The Hurriyat delegation, led by the group's chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, met the political leadership of PoK in Muzaffarabad.
The last Friday prayers of Ramzan (Jumatul Vida) were not allowed to be held at the historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar.
Two persons were killed when policemen fired on protestors in Qamarwari and Sangrama areas of Kashmir valley on Monday, according to official sources.
This will be the first interaction between Jammu and Kashmir's moderate separatist group and the United Progressive Alliance dispensation as part of the dialogue process.
Mirwaiz Farooq, who is also a Muslim religious head, feels that the Friday meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Lahore has given a fresh hope not only to people of the two nations but to the entire South Asian region.
Hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was on Thursday placed under house arrest, a day ahead of his scheduled visit to Tral town in south Kashmir Pulwama district.
Terming as "cowardly" the attack on Hurriyat leader Fazal Haq Qureshi, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said the Centre was committed to finding a solution to the Kashmir issue through quiet talks with every shade of political opinion in the state.
German Ambassador to India Michael Steiner has issues an impassioned plea to seek the support of Kashmiris for 'Ehsaas-e-Kashmir', a music concert featuring world renowned music conductor Zubin Mehta in Srinagar.
This follows threats from militant outfits after the Hurriyat decided to talk to the Centre about the Kashmir issue.
I do not think that Delhi is doing enough to push the peace process as is being done by Pakistan.
Both factions of Hurriyat Conference on Tuesday attacked Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in unison over his statement asking to explore "other options" if Pakistan continues with ceasefire volition, saying his talk of "bullet for bullet" shows lack of understanding of the consequences.
This is the first attempt by the separatists to reach out to the mainstream parties.
The prime minister will pay a two-day visit to J&K, when he will also address a rally in Srinagar.
As per the Simla Agreement, all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan should be treated as bilateral ones, while the Hurriyat has been insisting that it be made a party to talks to resolve the Kashmir problem.
Pakistan's ruler Pervez Musharraf and his top diplomats made a U-turn on talks with India after the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee released Hurriyat leaders in early 2000 as part of his peace initiatives on Kashmir, according to a declassified US cable.
Hurriyat said Dulat's "primary goal was to defame the Kashmir freedom movement and spread lies about it".
Geelani also criticised porous borders, self-governance and other formulas being put forth by the Pakistan President, General Parvez Musharraf, to meet India midway in resolving the Kashmir dispute.
However, the government's response in the event of the Hurriyat pulling out of the talks was not clear.
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