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Hurriyat's election commission sees
no clash with assembly polls

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

The Hurriyat Conference sees no clash of interest between its election commission for Jammu and Kashmir and the forthcoming assembly polls in the state.

"The assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir will not undermine our endeavour to choose Kashmiri representatives who could participate in talks to resolve the Kashmir dispute," Tapan Bose, who heads the commission, told reporters in Srinagar on Wednesday.

"The assembly polls will have no bearing on the commission. Our exercise is not aimed at choosing representatives to the state assembly. We want to give an opportunity to the Kashmiri people to choose their representatives who would hold talks with both New Delhi and Islamabad to resolve the Kashmir dispute peacefully."

Bose clarified that the commission would not be subservient to the Hurriyat Conference. "We are independent," he said.

"State assembly elections are meaningless so long as the violence continues. We will try to create an atmosphere conducive for talks," Bose said.

He said the commission has drawn a "donation programme through which Kashmiri people will be asked to donate Rs 5 each to enable the commission to meet its costs of operation."

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