Jamaat in volte face, backs peace talks

The Jamaat-e-Islami, which openly backs militants fighting to end Indian rule in Kashmir, yesterday executed a surprising volte face – sending a message of peace and friendship to visiting Indian parliamentarians, saying that the South Asian rivals should settle differences through talks.

"I welcome Indian parliamentarians," Senator Ghafoor Ahmed, deputy chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami, said as he welcomed Indian lawmakers at a reception hosted by his party.

"I was born in Uttar Pardesh, studied in Lucknow. How can I think about enmity with India or want any harm to its people," said Ahmed, who migrated to Pakistan at partition in 1947.

"We want good neighbourly relations with India. The peoples of Pakistan and India want friendship.

We can erase 56 years of rivalry and enmity with just two years of friendship," he said.

In the past, the Jamaat-e-Islami led violent protests when Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Lahore for peace talks with Nawaz Sharif.

The party openly advocates 'jihad' in Kashmir and helped recruit militants and raise funds for the guerrilla struggle in the disputed region.