Hurriyat should be included in dialogue process: Aiyar

Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Saturday that Hurriyat should be included in every dialogue process, adding that Article 35A must remain a part of the Constitution to ensure that the people of Kashmir do not feel threatened.

Aiyar was delivering a lecture at a seminar organized by the Centre for Peace and Progress in summer capital Srinagar.

"A right that Kashmiris have for the last so many years should remain with them so that they do not feel threatened," he said.

"It is in our Constitution and one must not make any attempt to revoke it. Some people are unnecessarily raking up the issue which is not in anyone's interest," he said.

"The matter is in the Supreme Court, but I hope the court would take the national interest into account before taking any decision," Aiyar said.

Later, talking to reporters, Aiyar said: "When we came here in May last year, we had invited the Hurriyat. We met everyone who was ready to meet us. We could not meet Yasin Malik. Yesterday, I got a friend to call him saying I was coming again, if I could meet him. He replied saying that he would meet me in Delhi and not here."

"I agree with you that Hurriyat should also be included in all the dialogues. Dialogues should be held with everyone. I also know many Kashmiris who want to be with India. I consider Kashmiris as one of my own and myself as one of them," he added.

--IANS

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