An American mediation expert has called for including Kashmiri leadership in the dialogue process and said without their participation the issue of the disputed region will remain unresolved.
In his interaction with the members of the Justice Foundation Kashmir Centre (JFKC), Reverend Brian Cox acknowledged that the journey towards the eventual settlement of Kashmir was long but given goodwill on all sides it could be resolved, Kashmir Media Service reported.
Cox has worked on both sides of the Line of Control in Kashmir for the past seven years in his capacity as Director Kashmir Project, and also in the Middle East bringing divided people together and helping to heal very deep wounds in the conflict torn regions.
He said his experience as a senior vice president of the International Centre for Religion and Diplomacy based in Washington showed that the traditional form of conflict resolution and diplomacy simply did not work particularly where religion was part of the equation. Without mincing any words, Cox said at the moment there was no optimism on Kashmir and the issue could not be resolved even through gifted peacemaker.
He called for bringing people of all shades and religion together on the principle of pluralism, social justice, forgiveness and spiritual healing, saying those factors could lead to some kind of a hope.
Emphasising on intra-Kashmir dialogue, Cox said it was imperative that the Kashmiri leadership must be involved in all the dialogues because the issue pertained to their future.
He pointed out that the international community would not directly interfere in resolving the issue but said it would encourage all the parties to continue their efforts to resolve the matter in the best possible way. JFKC Executive Director Professor Nazir Ahmad Shawl in his welcome remarks stressed the need for moving beyond rhetoric to concrete steps for resolving one of the oldest unsettled issues in the world.
He urged the international community to take cognisance of the discovery of massed graves in Occupied Kashmir and put pressure on the Indian government to bring those responsible for this heinous crime to justice. A number of members of the JFKC Advisory Committee also spoke on the various aspects of the Kashmir issue.