Hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, seen as the force behind the current agitation, said on Wednesday that peace would return to the state only after India withdrew its security forces and agreed to a plebiscite. “If India agrees then we will get Pakistan to withdraw its security forces from Azad Kashmir, Gilgit and Baltistan. The referendum should be for every citizen of united Jammu and Kashmir. This is the basic demand of the people and has been for the last 62 years. We will accept whatever the majority decides,’’ he said after being released from detention.
In an apparent reference to Sonia Gandhi’s recent talk of development as a panacea for the Kashmir problem, Geelani said their struggle was not a demand for flyovers and roads, or for jobs. “We are fighting for the right to self-determination,’’ he explained. “India is not paying any heed to what the people of Jammu and Kashmir want.’’ Geelani said that any referendum should be in line with the 1948 United Nations Security Council resolutions calling for the people of J & K to choose between India and Pakistan. He maintained there was no room for a third option of independence unless a tripartite dialogue between India, Pakistan and the “genuine leadership of the people of J & K agrees to put it on the table for popular vote.
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