I have moved from a small jail to a big jail. Kashmir is one huge jail - there is no one to be seen out in the evenings, there are check-posts and guards outside every house, there is restriction on movement.

I believe absolutely in Gandhi and his ideology. We want the people to have their right of determination. We will accept the decision of the people. If they decide in favour of India or Pakistan, we will accept it. And if they decide they want independence, India and Pakistan must accept that too ...

Hurriyat Conference is a forum. Different political organisations have different ideologies and some are aligned with Pakistan. But we have reached a consensus that we will accept the decision of the people: If there is a negotiation, it must be a tripartite one and we will accept its outcome whatever it is.

The stalemate is only when India and Pakistan discuss Kashmir ... Their attitude ... smacks of imperialism because they ignore the Kashmiri people.  A dialogue has its own constitution, the first principle of which is that all parties concerned must be present at the negotiations table with no precondition attached. When you impose a precondition, like Advani's statement that talks should be within the framework of Constitution, what can we talk?

Autonomy is not a solution. It will not work. This is an international issue, and the global interest will continue even if autonomy is granted.

 Vajpayee ... is a senior leader and the only statesman alive in India ... In the middle east, before Yitzhak Rabin started a peace process, he announced it could take his life and government, but history would vindicate him ... The Indian Prime Minister has to play that role ...

The role of the Delhi-appointed chief minister died with Sheikh Mohd, Abdullah ... The Government of India should realise that the present violent phase in Kashmir is a result of buying leaders and letting down people.

... The Government of India needs only a mulazim (servant) in Kashmir ... Assam is an integral part of India ... But Kashmir is an internationally recognised dispute. The Kashmiri people did not make all these sacrifices to make Yaseen Malik, or any one else in the Hurriyat, the chief minister of J&K. These sacrifices have been for their right of self-determination. (Source: The Week, 21May, 2000)