'India should be ready for compromise'

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">NEW DELHI: Leader of Pakistan''s hard line Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam Maulana Fazlur Rahman on Monday said India should be ready for some compromise at the negotiating table with Pakistan for resolving mutual disputes.<br /><br />"India should expedite the talk process shedding all pre-conditions and be ready for a give-and-take policy.As neighbours we have to make some adjustments and respond to the needs of each other," the pro-Taliban leader told <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Times News Network</span> in an exclusive interview.<br /><br />Rahman said Kashmir was close to all Pakistanis'' heart and added that neither India nor Pakistan could deny that the dispute in Jammu and Kashmir was a reality. <br /><br />When asked about India''s charges that Pakistan was supporting cross-border terrorism, Rahman asked, "Where is terrorism...who is a terrorist? We don''t call them terrorists. We perceive them as freedom fighters struggling for independence." <br /><br />Discounting misconceptions that a religious party like his talked of peace and democracy, Rahman, a key member of the six-party Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), asked "why can''t religious leaders play an important role in building peace and brotherhood? Which religion prohibits them? My visit proves that religious groups in Pakistan are not opposed to the recent peace initiatives."<br /><br />"Of course we are part of MMA, but we are a separate entity. Our stated position always has been Kashmir and all other outstanding issues between Pakistan and India should be resolved through bilateral dialogue.<br /><br />"We want to be helpful in creating an atmosphere which leads to resolving the disputes between India and Pakistan," he said.<br /><br />He said that by visiting India he intended to restore confidence among common people of the two countries in the recent peace process being pursued by both India and Pakistan.<br /><br />To a question as to how sincere President General Pervez Musharraf was towards peace process, Rahman said, "It is important for us to create an atmosphere congenial for successful talks. For us it is not important what Musharraf thinks in this regard; but what the people of Pakistan think on this issue." <br /><br />About Islamic terrorism and jehad, Rahman who appeared pleased to be making his fourth visit to India said, "There are no Islamic terrorists. Its the creation of the West. And the true concept of jehad in Islam is not against other communities, groups or religions but against one''s own self and within the Muslim society to fight evil and injustice." </div> </div>