Kashmir settlement needs political will: Mirwaiz

New Delhi, October 20, 2015 (PPI-OT): The Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has said that resolution to the Kashmir dispute lies in showing political will and courage, and not in exhibiting a military approach. The Mirwaiz while addressing a round-table conference in New Delhi said that nothing could be gained by overlooking the political and historical facts of the Kashmir dispute, which would only put the peace of the entire region in danger. The event was organised by the Centre for Policy Analysis (CPA) at the India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi.

The APHC Chairman said that Kashmir was both a political as well as a human issue and highlighted the dangers the unresolved Kashmir posed to the peace in South Asia. The lingering Kashmir dispute, he added, is dangerous for nuclear neighbours Pakistan and India and is a cause of constant confrontation between them for the past seven decades, casting a shadow on the peace of the region.

The Mirwaiz said, Indian political leadership is following unrealistic policies and trying to implement them forcibly on the people of Kashmir. He said that the people of India were being misled about the long-standing dispute and situation in Kashmir by presenting it as a law and order problem and not as an unresolved political dispute. “The civil society of India has a role to educate its masses about the ground reality in Kashmir and the importance of resolving this issue,” he said. He added that this policy could neither put the Kashmir issue on the backburner nor demoralize the people of Kashmir from carrying forward their just struggle for right to self-determination.

The APHC Chairman condemned the imposition of curfew in downtown Srinagar and in Islamabad district and illegal detention of Mukhtar Ahmad Waza and Javed Ahmad Mir by the authorities. About attacks on minorities in India and Muslims in Kashmir, the Mirwaiz said, politics of communal hatred is against India’s own interests. “Extremist Indian elements are trying to create communal tension in Jammu and Kashmir, sometimes by arousing religious passions and sometimes by raking up sectarian tensions in a bid to push their own agenda in Kashmir,” he deplored.

The Mirwaiz also visited Safderjung hospital in New Delhi and inquired about the health of Showkat Ahmad, a trucker who was injured in Udhampur petrol bomb attack. He was accompanied by senior Hurriyet leader, Bilal Ghani Lone. He also met Pakistan High Commissioner, Abdul Basit, in New Delhi and discussed issues related to Kashmir during his 70-minute meeting with him.

For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Phone: 92-51-4435548, 4435549
Fax: 92-51-4861736