Date & Time Dsk Vers Slug Status Dur'n St Jan 28 16:58 C* PARTITION: Tape 85 -:OK 5:50 R* By; *** Mod; 255 Lang; TAPE 85 Umar FAROOQ, Mirwaiz (ie hereditary Muslim chief priest) of Kashmir, and former chairman of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, one of the leading figures in the Kashmiri separatist movement; interviewed by Altaf Hussain in Srinagar, Jan 2000 Q: Kashmir a prisoner of partition settlement A: 'yes ... partn of sub con, K was only place where people were not given a choice to decide their future, so it does haunt the people ... the unfortunate people of K whose future is yet to be determined, so it's v clearly linked to partn, and we can say it is an unfinished agenda of partn' Q: cause or consequence of Ind-Pak rivalry A: 'the reason we see hostility between Ind and Pak is the K issue, we feel our future is yet to be determined; hostility between these cos will continue untiol it's settled' Q: influence on politics A: 'after 1990 we saw the rise of Hindu fundamentalist BJP' linked with K as being the only Muslim state in I, that gave considerable flight to BJP, cd utilise issue for their hidden programme' Q: role of military in Pak due to K issue A: 'yes, of course, esp after Kargil; the mil takeover was cos of K, complete division of opinion between army and NS, led to coup in Pak and mil coming to power in Pak' Q: some of muj seizing on K issue in a way which doesn't help Kashmiris themselves A: 'latgely struggle is indigenous ... an element of what the Indians say the foreign element ... groupl pike Hum and LeT are Islamic groups, but working with complete co-ord with organs here and goal is self-det' Q: how is Kargil viewed in K A: [interrupted] 'there was a strange response; people v much enthusiastic about devts in Kargil ... people wanted something to happen, to resolve once and for all ... it was a dangerous scenarios, people watched v keenly, people wanted v badly to internationalise issue and give a boost to the muj ...' Q: how will K find peace A: 'm/ment belongs to the people, and the people will dtermine it ultimate corse ... until some pol initiative by both I and P, taking account of wishes of people of K, don't see a settlement' Q: role of Pak