Kashmir dispute: No point in further dialogue with India, says Geelani

Geelani urges Pakistan not to rush in to talks with India, devise strategy to expose Indian human rights violations.

MUZAFFARABAD: Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Geelani on Tuesday urged Pakistan to not rush in to talks with India and to devise a strategy to expose the human rights violations by Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Pakistan should not rush in to yet another pointless discussion with India because 150 rounds of dialogues with them in the past have not produced any results. A new round will also meet the same fate,” Geelani told the media here during a telephone press conference from Srinagar.

He demanded that all political and religious parties of Pakistan and AJK adopt a united stance on the Kashmir dispute and open up their eyes to the situation prevailing in Kashmir.

Geelani, who heads his own faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, said that India is actively making efforts to destabilise Pakistan through Afghanistan and the increasing law and order situation, and said that the internal bickering and ideological conflicts have caused concern among Kashmiris.

He said that by changing the Kashmir policy, the successive governments of Islamabad had damaged Pakistan’s principle stance on Kashmir which was exploited by India to subject the innocent masses of the besieged state to Indian brutalities. Referring to India’s offer for holding dialogue with Pakistan, Geelani said there was no point in holding talks when India does not recognise Kashmir as a disputed territory.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2011.