New Delhi: London-based International Kashmir Alliance (IKA), a newly formed amalgam of expatriate Kashmiri leaders, on May 11 said it was not averse to meeting with the Centre's interlocutor N N Vohra and criticised Hurriyat for practising "politics on a failed pitch".

"Vohra is an able person and is a highly respected member of Indian establishment. He carries the trust of the state of India and we have no problem in meeting him," Syed Nazir Gilani, chairman of IKA, said in his first interview after the formation of the Alliance last month.

He said, "After all, if we succeed in convincing Vohra of the merits of our case and that every tragedy has a saturation point, we shall have convinced an important Indian… this is an age of argument, agreement and transparency. If the parties keep to these three principles, there is no problem."

Advocating the need for talks with Vohra, he said, "We understand the jurisprudence of a dialogue between a person nominated by a sovereign democratic state and ourselves."

Coming down heavily on Hurriyat, Gilani, who is also chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Council for Human Rights, said, "Hurriyat announced a ceasefire and failed. It announced its election commission and failed. The amalgam leaders are practising politics on a failed pitch."

"They (Hurriyat) cannot see beyond the length of their noses and have no concept that a leader has to see beyond tomorrow, which does not belong to the Hurriyat," the IKA chairman said.

Gilani, who refused to compare IKA with Hurriyat, said his Alliance was for the welfare of the people of the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir first.

"Time is approaching very fast when Hurriyat will either have to accept our ideology or face the blame of commercialising politics," he said.

"Unfortunately, Hurriyat wants to play no holds barred game in Kashmir politics, which is barbaric in this day and age…we shall leave it to the people to decide between Hurriyat and IKA programme," he said.

In a sarcastic remark, he said, "India and Pakistan have moved to reactivate the air, road and rail engines between the two countries. But no sovereign state can activate the failed engine of Hurriyat any further."

Complementing the recent move of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to ease tension with Pakistan, Gilani said, "I have known Vajpayee since 1993 when I met him in Vienna. He is the best humanist at heart and I admire his approach to resolving issues with Pakistan."

Asserting that unity between various groups of the state was welcome, he said IKA was under obligation to approach all Kashmiri leaders of 1960s, 70s and 80s like Shabir Shah and Hashim Qureshi who have been associated with the "movement in Kashmir."

Gilani said he would welcome all those leaders who agreed with the Alliance programme for holding a dialogue and peaceful resolution of disputes.

"IKA is against a proxy politics and against a proxy war in Kashmir," Gilani said.

PTI