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Mehbooba Mufti Sayeed, the Kashmiri leader, currently visiting Pakistan, has said that with phenomenal decrease in the number of militants and cases of militancy, India should also reduce military forces in occupied Kashmir.
But she also asserted that although Pakistan and India were contending parties, the Kashmir problem really concerned the Kashmiri people and they alone should decide its solution.
Mehbooba, president, Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Party and Member of Indian Lok Sabha, made this statement, during a talk on 'Peace Process and Kashmir issue' here at the South Asia Free Media Association, on Tuesday. She remarked that after withdrawal of the dreaded Pota law, situation in the Indian occupied Kashmir had vastly improved.
The occupied Kashmir government and her father have on several occasions counselled the Indian government to adopt a policy for trusting the Kashmiri people. The union government had taken the advice and since then the situation in the area was better, as compared to what it was in 1989.
Citing an example, she said that after a boy who designated himself freedom fighter and was served food and shelter, for voicing Pakistani sentiments, the same boy after his surrender to Indian security forces would lead the police to the same house to have it pulled down.
She was in full agreement with President Musharraf's policy for demilitarisation on both sides, free movement of people; as well as free trading across Line of Control. 'You could not imagine how dependent were the people of Kashmir for goods from the Punjab. They have to wait even for eggs during winter. In addition, communication and trade movements across the LoC would ease difficulties of the Kashmiri people.'
Mehbooba Mufti reminded the Pakistani audience that Musharraf was not the only author of these policies. 'In their own time former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif had also put across the same formula.' 'Don't look at it as Musharraf's policy but as confidence building measures that have to be carried forward through for good of the Kashmiri people'.
Mehbooba was diffident to speak on the liberation movement inside occupied Kashmir. In her opinion, the plebiscite in occupied Kashmir could wait until the dividing line between the sides open up and people are allowed access to move freely. At one point, she commented that she certainly 'did not want another division on the basis of religion.'
However, when speaking of lives of the people cut through mayhem, she said the same mischief was happening in the tribal areas of Pakistan. The audience reminded her that the people of Pakistan were protesting the loss of life in the tribal areas, but you remain silent when Kashmiri youths were martyred and Indian soldiers raped girls.
She was also piqued at this line of argument, commenting that she has heard this argument return after a period of six months, or so. Mehbooba Mufti was quite appreciative of the craving for more democracy and the political transformation, she had witnessed after the general election in Pakistan. She compared this with the situation after the 2002 general election in India.
Prominent intellectual, Khwaja Masud, chairing the talk's event, remarked in his presidential address that the Kashmiris were pragmatic people, and waited for things to happen step by step. In the same way, they would also gradually realise their wish to join Pakistan.
Khwaja Masud observed that since both India and Pakistan were nuclear powers and equal in strength to each other there could be no question of war between these two countries. 'Both would be doomed if they ever tried to fight each other,'he said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2008

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