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| Mehbooba breaks recess, turns to militants | | PDP's appeal to militants to drop guns is a good change of heart | |
NIRBHAY JAMMUAL
Jammu, July 24: After a long recess and pro-active engagements in bashing the security forces for all the ills of Jammu and Kashmir, the Peoples Democratic Party appears to have undergone change of heart as it has urged the militants to lay down arms and pay way for dialogue for resolution of the issues.
The Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti who is away in Colombo , Sri Lanka, to attend the Pugwash conference on Kashmir and other peace and conflict themes also strongly called for involvement of separatists in the dialogue process.
This was perhaps first time to hear from Mehbooba after a ling spell that she wanted the militants to drop arms and participate in the dialogue. It may be mentioned here that ever since the formation of the government the PDP carried on an aggressive campaign appealing militants to shun gun and sit across the table for talks. However, after formation of the government headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the party changed its course and started bashing security forces for every thing which goes wrong.
A communiqué issued by the PDP here today quoted Mehbooba while saying at the concluding session of two day conference that "the gun-wielding youth must also recognize the merit of peaceful means in the global context and come forward to join the peace process and present a non-violent agenda for the resolution of the problem," she said and added that instead of sticking to their hackneyed approach, the representatives of the State's people, whether elected or not, and its civil society should in good faith pool together their wisdom and moral resources to find a way for the resolution of the problem. "Given their yearning for peace, the people of Jammu & Kashmir would appreciate full participation and frank discussion for a march forward towards stability and prosperity," she said.
Ms Mufti said without getting bogged down by the situation in Pakistan , New Delhi must in its right earnest broaden the ambit of the dialogue process within the State to address the political, economic and social concerns of its people. She stressed the need for encouraging involvement of the local militant groups in the peace process and asked the Government of India to work on the confidence building measures targeted at the gun-wielding youth. She said allowing safe passage to the boys who had gone across for arms training and are now eager to return and live peaceful lives and rehabilitation of the families of deceased militants are the vital elements of the confidence building process. "Such reconciliatory measures would certainly encourage the militants to join the dialogue process," she said.
Mufti said PDP, right from its inception, has advocated an end to the violent and militant means and opted for process of dialogue and engagement for the peaceful settlement of the problem. "It has been our consistent view that any solution to the problem of Jammu & Kashmir could be only found through democratic and political means and the use of force is no substitute for the policy of engagement and dialogue," she said and added that the party's "healing touch" philosophy was a part of the same reconciliatory process aimed at general relief and betterment of the people. She said the people's faith in the democratic political processes could be strengthened and enhanced further only if the focus is shifted away from military means to the democratic political means and institutions for finding solution of the problem.
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