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| Pak situation demands a positive approach: Mufti | | | R.S Pura | Nov 6
Terming the developments in Pakistan as a cause of concern, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said New Delhi can, at this crucial juncture, send a positive message across by taking considerate steps in Jammu & Kashmir to strengthen the forces of peace in the sub-continent.
Addressing a public meeting here today, Sayeed said without diluting its agreed national policy of not interfering in the internal affairs of the neighboring countries, New Delhi could seize upon the situation by taking certain politically courageous steps towards the peaceful and ultimate settlement of the Kashmir issue. "Facilitating the political forces to take full control of the State's affairs by strengthening and consolidating the democratic and the civil society institutions would have a visible impact on the fast-changing situation in the State," he said and added that such measures would also provide a space to the forces of peace across the border who have been piloting peaceful and amicable settlement of the Kashmir issue.
Sayeed said the emerging situation in Pakistan, instead of decelerating the peace efforts, might provide an opportunity to New Delhi to accelerate, both reconciliation and resolution process within the State in the larger interest of region's peace and stability. He said such measures should also send a signal to those who had taken up the gun in their belief to resolve a political problem through it. "They must be made to realize that the gun has lost its impact and ability to achieve political objectives and dialogue is the only recourse," he said and added that all this needs a political will and the trust in the people of Jammu & Kashmir to consolidate the peace process. He said the successful ceasefire along the borders and the Line of Control (LoC) holding for the past couple of years has heightened the hopes of peace among the people and the two countries should extend this bonhomie to the plains as well.
Sayeed said since it came into being, Pakistan is, for the first time facing an existential threat from within, and New Delhi must respond to the emerging situation by making politically determined reconciliatory moves in Jammu & Kashmir and offer greater cooperation across the borders. "With Afghanistan already on the boil, destabilization and worsening of the security situation in Pakistan would only breed new alarming dangers in the region," he said and added that a discreet approach to the situation by New Delhi would not only signal India's positive support for Pakistan's territorial integrity but would also send to the people and the nation of Pakistan a message of goodwill.
Emphasizing that Jammu & Kashmir would be secure only in a space provided by amity, friendship and cooperation between India and Pakistan, Sayeed said the people of the State, irrespective of their age, gender, status or the political affiliation, have been suffering the disastrous consequences of the turmoil over the last decade and a half and they can't afford it anymore. "As a confidence building measure we will have to reach out to the victims of the violence, irrespective of their affiliation, if any," he said and added that time has come for the leadership of the country and the State to fully retrieve the people of Jammu & Kashmir, with honor and dignity intact, from the political uncertainties they are engulfed in for the past six decades.
Sayeed said the people of the State have developed stakes in the peace and they now want to reap the fruits of globalization and economic liberalization. He said as has been envisioned by the Coalition Government, people in all the regions of the State must get equal share and opportunity to carry forward their economic development by taking advantage of the region's natural resources and geographical location.
Senior PDP leaders Sardar T S Bajwa, Sardar Manjit Singh, Murtaza Khan Ved Mahajan, Dhaman Bhasin and Chowdhary Chuni also addressed the meeting. |
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