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Srinagar: In a virtual rebuff to Hurriyat Conference, Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference, a constituent of the amalgam, on May 22 asked the conglomerate to give up its "rigid" stand on the Kashmir issue in the wake of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's fresh peace initiatives.

"India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, are big countries. If they can show flexibility in their stand on the Kashmir issue, why cannot we," chairman of People's Conference Sajjad Lone said at a public rally attended by thousands of people.

Lone, who was accompanied by his brother and one of the seven executive members of the amalgam Bilal Lone was speaking on the occasion to mark the first death anniversary of their father Abdul Gani Lone.

Referring to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's fresh peace initiatives, Lone said the "world order has changed... A peace wave has begun and we have to understand it."

"We have to know our standing on the diplomatic front and adjust accordingly," he said cautioning the Hurriyat leadership not to "miss the (peace) bus now".

Hurriyat had rejected the offer of Vajpayee for holding talks with Centre's interlocutor N N Vohra.

In a veiled attack on senior Jamat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Sajjad cautioned, "such people" to control their anti-US and anti-west sentiment saying, "we have to be careful of the consequences of these utterances. Sentimental statements may be pleasing for the time being but it could harm the Kashmir cause."

PTI