NEW DELHI: Soon after meeting US ambassador Frank Wisner, Kashmiri leader Shabir Shah literate that Jammu and Kashmir was a disputed area and that he would fight moves to hold elections there within the Indian constitution with a boycott call. Shah, perhaps the most popular leader across the valley, looked buoy- ant as he was feted by the US ambassador, who hosted dinner in his honor in the evening after meeting him for talks in the afternoon.

Shah’s stand has hitherto been less strident. Even in the last week, he has held that “elections and selections” by the government of India in the state since 1948 have yielded “negative zero” results but he has generally stopped short of saying whether he would participate in the elections the government plans in the state this summer.

“Jammu and Kashmir was, historically, never a part of India-we want to tell the world,” he said, explaining his purpose for meeting western envoys. Refusing to commit himself to a pro- Pakistan or independence line, shah said he was for the Kashmiri people and their right to self-determination. He would only make public his personal choice when the government accepted the right of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to determine their destinies.

He said he would participate if elections were held under UN supervision to determine who represents the people of the state but not if they were held to form a state government.

Asked about autonomy, he said he had no faith in the government of India because it had not kept promises every time it had made them in the past. No agreement was viable, he held, unless the people of the state were involved.

He struck to the sound he has taken ever since his release from jail six months ago that all the people of Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir of all communities must be carried along. He pointed to the presence of Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists in his team. He said he had given the All Party

Hurriyat Conference (APHC) an eight-point plan, to include representatives from Jammu and Ladakh, and said he hoped the plan would be accepted.

Shah, who has already met the ambassadors of France (the EU chair), Spain Sweden, Germany, Canada and Russia (apart from CPI(M) general secretary and plan to meet those of the UK, Greece and Austria before at- tending the Pakistan day celebrations.

Article extracted from this publication >> March 31, 1995