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| Time to resolve Kashmir: Mehbooba tells EU | | | Early Times Report
Srinagar May 13 : Opposition Peoples Democratic Party president, Mehbooba Mufti, Friday said the time for ‘study or interaction’ exercises was over and Jammu and Kashmir needed concrete steps for a holistic solution in which all influential quarters must extend a helping hand.
She was interacting with a European Union (EU) delegation led by Ambassador Daniele Smajda at her residence here today. “The political and economic problems of the state have resulted in immense sufferings for the people and it is time for solid steps to initiate a resolution process that looks beyond firefighting or patchwork approach” she told the delegation.
Mehbooba said there was hardly any aspect of Kashmir that was unknown and any further delay in resolution effort even after numerous fact finding missions, discussions and conferences was prone to be viewed as delaying tactics by a population that suffers from a deep sense of deprivation and disempowerment. The EU, she said could help by extending its moral influence in this enterprise of peace and conflict resolution that could impact a large portion of humanity residing in South Asia.
Expressing her confidence that the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was determined in his belief to resolve Kashmir and open a new chapter of peace and friendship with Pakistan, Mehbooba said his sincerity would need to be backed up with a combined national effort to implement that vision. She told the delegation that unless the people of the state witnessed a positive change in their lives they would continue to remain cynical of any declarations of intent.
Mehbooba said it was unfortunate that Kashmir attracted outside attention only when a situation is created in which people are forced to agitate and the administration adopts a course of confrontation. But in patches between the bouts of trouble the issue is forgotten and taken as non existent. Unfortunately peace time has never been used to seriously pursue resolution which has made uncertainty in the region almost endemic, she pointed out.
Referring to repeated assertion of people in democratic methods, Mehbooba said the current enthusiasm in panchayat elections conveyed a significant message. While people wanted empowerment at grass roots level the overwhelming participation might also be their way of trying to take things into their hands directly as at state level matters had only worsened under the present dispensation she said. “This however could be a crucial last chance for democracy if like the last assembly elections this time also the government failed to act with justice, fair play and a sense of purpose and direction” Mehbooba cautioned.
Sharing her party’s vision of the way forward in Kashmir with the European dignitaries, Mehbooba told them it fundamentally is an enterprise of hope and lifting of siege around the state that has been at the receiving end of strategic rivalries of countries of the region. She said PDP’s roadmap pointed to immense possibilities of growth for the state if only our traditional routes were opened to the outside world, without challenging or changing the present boundaries. If Europe could do away with barriers of travel and trade through out the continent there was no reason for India, Pakistan and other neighboring countries to do the same in the interest of their people, she added and said Jammu and Kashmir because of its strategic location could become an ideal meeting ground. She said while other regions like the Punjab and Bengal that suffered partition had more or less resolved issues of travel and trade between them, J&K was denied this opportunity. It is unfortunate that while Wagah Attari border is open for regular trade and travel Uri and Poonch have hardly gone beyond the baby steps after 2005 since they were reopened after six decades.
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