Srinagar, May 26 (IANS) United Jehad Council (UJC), the conglomerate of guerrilla groups based in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, has shown willingness to engage in talks with New Delhi, provided laying down of arms is not sought as a precondition.
Reacting to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s offer of dialogue to separatists, provided they abjured violence, UJC spokesman Syed Sadaqat Hussain said in a statement from Muzaffarabad: ‘The militant leadership is prepared to enter into tripartite talks with India, provided the government of India accepts Kashmir as a dispute and initiates confidence-building measures, including revocation of the armed forces special powers act (AFSPA), release of political detainees and curbing of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir’.
The statement also said laying down of arms should not be set as a precondition for such a dialogue process.
‘If the dialogue process is initiated in good faith and with sincerity of purpose and if it makes headway, militant activities would cease of their own,’ the UJC statement said.
