Geelani sets 5 conditions for peace talks in Valley

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Hard-line Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who is in the lead of political unrest which has claimed 65 lives, mainly in police firings, in the Valley since June 11 2010 has set five conditions for his working towards the restoration of peace and effecting a change in the approach being pursued at present.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, the octogenarian leader said India should accept Kashmir an international dispute, begin demilitarisation in the state under the supervision of a “credible’ world agency, repeal all harsh laws, including Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act and Public Safety Act, release all political prisoners and punish the security forces’ personnel involved in the recent killings. He also wanted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to publicly commit and ensure no further killings do take place. “If these demands are not met by the Indian government the ongoing Quit Kashmir movement will only be intensified,” he threatened.
Mr Geelani referring to the Prime Minister’s recent statement that the government hankers after a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir imbroglio said, ”If he and the government are really serious and sincere too towards seeking a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute, they should not be disinclined to the five steps I have suggested. If they accept these, we would certainly think on changing our line of action.”
He urged the Indian civil society to come forward and ensure that the people of Kashmir are not “brutalised” by the security forces. “It must come to the help of the people of Kashmir who are being subject to terrible atrocities on daily basis,” he said, demanding the release of hundreds of youth who were arrested by the police on charges of rock-throwing and similar offences during the past twelve weeks before the festival of Id.
Mr. Geelani reiterated that the people of Jammu and Kashmir have been “engaged in a struggle for their inalienable right of self-determination, for which they have been made to suffer immensely”. He added, “This right of the people of the state has been acknowledged by India herself in the United Nations Security Council and also in her repeated public pronouncements from 1947 to 1953”