Pak high commision invites Kashmir separatists for Eid milan

The Pakistan High Commission in India has invited Hurriyat leaders and other separatists from Kashmir to its Eid Milan party to be held on July 21.

"There is nothing unusual about our invite to Hurriyat leaders," Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit told IANS.

He said Pakistan will continue to extend its support to the people of Kashmir.

"Pakistan will continue extending its moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of Kashmir in their legitimate struggle for self-determination as provided for in the United Nations Charter and universal declaration of human rights," Basit said.

Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, however, said the decision whether to attend the party or not, is yet to be made by the party.

"We are yet to make a decision of attending the party. Since we are under detention, we have not decided anything yet," Hurriyat spokesperson Ayaz Akbar said over the phone from Srinagar.

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Mohammad Yasin Malik and Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said they had not received the invite for the Eid Milan and would only take a decision after receiving it.

Leaders of Hurriyat conference were also invited by the High Commission earlier for the Iftar party, which was cancelled later because of the heatwave in Karachi that caused several hundred deaths in Pakistan.

Despite the opposition to the "involvement of a third party" in resolving the Kashmir issue by the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, talks were held between the Hurriyat leaders and other separatists from Kashmir with Abdul Basit. They were invited to the Pakistan High Commission on Pakistan's National Day in March.

(Ruwa Shah can be contacted at ruwa.s@ians.in)