C'wealth meet: Hardline Hurriyat backs Pak for not inviting

The hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani today backed Pakistan's stand of not inviting the Speaker of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly to a Commonwealth meet in that country, saying it was "based on reality".
"Pakistan's stand is opportune and based on reality; Kashmir is an internationally-acknowledged disputed territory.
"India can neither succeed in changing the status and nature of this state by its rigid and stubborn policy and nor can this region be kept permanently under the forced military occupation of India," Hurriyat charged in a statement here.
Hurriyat supported Pakistan government's move not to send an invite to the J-K Assembly Speaker despite India's threat that it would boycott the Commonwealth Parliamentary Union (CPU) conference in Islamabad over the issue.

"If Pakistan maintains firmness and constancy in its Kashmir policy, India will be held accountable before the world bodies," it said.
New Delhi's "cries" over Pakistan's decision were unwanted and it has "no moral or constitutional justification".

"India is itself making its position awkward by insisting on its unprincipled policies.
"A resolution of UN had defined the J-K Assembly in clear terms that it has a limited and local sphere of operation and no international status," the Hurriyat said.
The non-inclusion of the Assembly Speaker's name in the invitees' list is as per international principles and New Delhi's boycott threat is only an "imperialistic assault".

"It is sheer diplomatic hooliganism... The elections held in the state... Cannot be termed impartial and fair. It is also a reason why the Assembly Speaker cannot be invited to the meet and that is the right decision of Pakistan and should be understood in the right perspective," the Hurriyat said.