Associated Press

Srinagar, April 16:

The head of Kashmir’s largest militant group — one of India’s most wanted men — said today he is ready for peace talks if invited by New Delhi, and that his organisation is not opposed to a new India-Pakistan bus service. The statement came hours before the arrival of Pakistani President Gen Pervez Musharraf in India on a goodwill tour. “I believe that no freedom fighter will attack or fire a single bullet on the bus. These are not our concerns,” Syed Salahuddin, chief commander of the Pakistan-based Hezb-ul Mujahedeen group, told Zee News in an interview. Hezb-ul Mujahedeen is the biggest of about a dozen armed rebel groups in Kashmir that have been fighting Indian forces since 1989 to carve out a separate homeland or merge with Pakistan.

Rebels have threatened the bus service and the building where passengers were staying was torched a day before the April 7 start of the service. Salahuddin said he was ready for peace talks with India. “If India invites us, we will definitely come to the table. We believe in the peaceful process, but again those talks should be focused on solving the core issue and not delaying the resolution of the Kashmir problem,” said Salahuddin. In 2000, Salahuddin declared a ceasefire and four of his commanders began talks with Indian officials, but talks failed and fighting resumed. Security officials estimate Hezb-ul Mujahedeen has half of the estimated 3,000 or so militants in the Kashmir Valley, most of them Kashmiri youth. Salahuddin, a Kashmiri, was born in a village outside Srinagar. He was a teacher in an Islamic school. He ran for state elections in 1987 but lost, alleging election fraud, and was jailed for trying to start an armed revolt. He crossed over to Pakistan in 1989.

“People of Jammu and Kashmir were never in favour of the gun,” Salahuddin said. “We are a peace-loving nation, and if India displays sincerity and... makes efforts to solve the core issue according to Kashmiri aspirations, none of us would use the gun.” He said the militants could give up arms “if military operations are stopped, rebels are released from jails and an atmosphere of goodwill is created.”The territorial dispute over Kashmir and the militant attacks are at the heart of festering India-Pakistan tensions. Both countries are now trying to solve their differences at meetings like Musharraf’s weekend visit. “We want that India and Pakistan should come closer because it will be good for everyone. It’s a big thing for peace,” Salahuddin said. “But we don’t expect overnight solutions. But as far as bilateral talks are concerned, I feel that unless a final solution of the core dispute is devised, nothing can be gained from such exercises.”