Speakers at a two-day International Kashmir Conference backed the current peace process between Pakistan and India, saying, it was the way forward for seeking a peaceful solution for the Kashmir issue.
They were speaking at the second and third session of the conference here late Wednesday on the subject of "Demilitarisation and self-governance as steps to self-determination" and "October 8 earthquake in South Asia: obstacles and opportunities".
They were of the view that despite being slow, the peace process was very useful to create a propitious situation for a movement forward on the lingering issue of Kashmir.
In his remarks, Larse Rise, former Chairman of All Party Group on Kashmir in Norwegian Parliament said, "Kashmir is an open wound" and was one of the oldest conflict. He said even if there was very small steps as a result of the current peace process even then "it is promising".
Rise said he did not understand why Kashmir was very low on the agenda of the foreign policy makers and in the media.
Executive member of All Parties Hurriyat Conference and Chairman People's Conference Jammu and Kashmir "Pakistan is our dear friend. Kashmir is alive because Pakistan is morally supporting us."
Lone said, "President General Pervez Musharraf is serious to resolve the Kashmir issue. We will support him because he is doing the best for us."
He said APHC had always been willing to sit across the table, as it wanted to find a peaceful resolution of the problem. However, Lone said the final solution of the issue should be to the satisfaction of the all three concerned parties.
Speaking on the occasion, British journalist Victoria Schofield said whosoever visited Indian occupied Kashmir, one could not miss the "intrusive presence" of the Indian troops there. She said when she was recently there with her family, even her children felt "oppressed by the presence of the Indian troops".
Indian troops, she said, had stop and search powers with immunity hence a demilitarisation was the key aspect. There should be some timetable for it, she said, adding that whenever it was achieved the Kashmiris would be overjoyed.
In his remarks, Dr ZU Khan said the Kashmir conference had helped exchange of views among different delegates. He emphasised the need to remind Britain of its obligation to complete the unfinished agenda of the partition of the Indian Sub-Continent.
Fai on the occasion quoted former Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee as saying that it was serious to settle the issue of Kashmir that might not be within the parameters of Indian constitution. Endorsing all the confidence building measures (CBMs) Fai demanded flexibility from India so that some movement forward could be made on the Kashmir issue.
He said if the CBMs were not followed by a headway on the core issue of Kashmir, the whole exercise might loose the confidence of the Kashmiri people. Referring to Irish problem, Fai said, no progress could be made until the IRA was listened. Hence it was time the people of Kashmir must be listened.
Fahad Hussain, Editor of the News, Islamabad said now was the time that some movement was required. He said Pakistan had offered proposals to seek an "out of the box" solution of the lingering problem but that was rejected by India.
Hussain said India seemed to be either afraid of loosing initiative to Pakistan or wanted not to take the blame of softening its stance on Kashmir.
Executive Director Kashmir Center Brussels Barrister Abdul Majid Tramboo on the occasion said Indian leadership had to demonstrate political will to find a legitimate solution of the Kashmir issue. He said Pakistan was serious, genuine and wanted the representatives of the Kashmiri people to be included in the peace process between Pakistan and India.
Member AJK Assembly for overseas Kashmiris in Britain, Chaudhry Mohammad Khan on the occasion said October 8 earthquake offered opportunities but despite the decision to open five points no significant movement of the people across the Line of Control could take place.
Professor ED Garcia, Senior Adviser International Alert London in his remarks suggested many steps for accelerating the peace process. He said Pakistan and India could engage a consortium of facilitators. Garcia said conscious efforts had to be made to ensure the dividend of peace reached to the vulnerable areas. He also called for changing the mindset and to empower the stakeholders. He said in a peace process one needed a mentality of a marathon; and one should not be disappointed over the failure.
Comments
Comments are closed.