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| Make Jammu Equal Partner In Dialogue Process | | Delhi Conference - I | | NEHA
JAMMU, Apr 1: A two-day conference on "India-Pakistan Civil Society Review of Strategic Relations" was held in New Delhi on Friday and Saturday. Some of the persons who participated in the conference included National Minority Commission (NMC) chairman Wajahat Habibullah; Former BSF DG E N Rammohan; CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat; Engineer Rashid, MLA from Kashmir; and former Vice-Chancellor of Islamic University of Science and Technology, Kashmir, Siddiq Wahid, from India and Ejaz Haider, Executive Director, Jinnah Institute; Pervez Hoodbhoy, professor of Nuclear and High Energy Physics; and Pakistan Peoples Party leader and lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan from Pakistan.
Wajahat Habibullah, as per reports from New Delhi, inter-alia, said: "Draconian laws such as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and J&K Public Safety Act (PSA) have no place in a democratic system such as India…The Government of India should allow the people of J&K (read Kashmir) to decide how they want to be governed…What stops J&K Government from repealing PSA which is its own creation….(It is wrong to say that) India and Pakistan are not willing to discuss the bilateral issues and those related to Kashmir dispute…The people of Kashmir should be made equal stakeholders in the peace process and part of the dialogue process. Both sides of Kashmir, including Gilgit and Baltistan, should demilitarised".
Rammohan, among other things, said that "reasons must be found out as to why people take up guns. One must be scrupulously legal while dealing with insurgency which I had steadfastly followed while fighting insurgency and militancy in North-East and Kashmir". Siddiq Wahid, inyter-alia, said that the "civil society should advocate that India and Pakistan allow Kashmiris to express themselves. This has not happened so far…There is need to focus on three Ts - Firstly, Truth; All parties must accept truth about J&K. Transparency; In this regard one must take into account, from Pakistan perspective, what is happening in Gilgit, Baltistan and PaK. In the Indian context it should be illustrated as to why the interlocutors report has not been made public. And finally, Trust between Delhi-Islamabad, Delhi-J&K and Islamabad-J&K should be built".
Engineer Rashid, among other things, said that the "realities of Kashmir should be accepted and that elections are not a solution to the problem. Both India and Pakistan are confused over Kashmir. They lack will to resolve this problem… Treat us (Kashmiris) like human beings…No formula has worked till date because all efforts were bilateral. Kashmiris had no role in any such peace effort made during the last six decades… India and Pakistan (need) to decide about Kashmiris' role in peace initiative…The two countries should respect their own commitments made to Kashmiris…Kashmiri militants should also be involved in peace initiative as without them no such effort will succeed".
Speaking at the concluding session, CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat, among other things, said that the "Government (of India) should find a solution to Kashmir issue by talking to both Pakistan and Kashmiris…The overall process of advancing Indo-Pak relations cannot be held hostage to other factors…Certain vested interests rake up the bogey of Pakistan to create communal problems. The composite dialogue between India and Pakistan should continue and be further broadened". Ejaz Haider, Executive Director, Jinnah Institute, Pakistan, reportedly said: "The Kashmir issue has been subsumed by the larger problems of Indo-Pak relations…The then President of Pakistan Gen Parvez Musharraf had adopted a right track by moving the issue away from territory to the people…Presently the focus has been shifted from those initiatives…
Musharraf's initiative did not focus on political sovereignty of either India or Pakistan that provided elbow space to the two sides to move forward. In the event of bringing in the issues that relate to sovereignty the two countries immediately fall back on their stated positions…Musharraf's approach gave necessary face-saver to both sides. It helped them move towards a solution…(India) will not engage Islamabad under the prevailing conditions in Pakistan due to political and strategic reasons…New Delhi's approach towards Kashmir problem as high-handed and cussed…The Kashmir issue can be resolved easily provided the political will is there which is lacking in all sides. We want the Kashmiris to get back their dignity and self-respect. India has to address this central issue…The 1948 movement in Kashmir was an indigenous one and not fomented by Pakistan".
Aitzaz Ahsan of the Pakistan Peoples Party, inter-alia, said that the "Indo-Pak ties can only be improved by following a spirit of positive reciprocity…The cricketing ties have a vital role to play to bring the two nations together…The Government of India should lift all bans on Pakistani cricketers' participation in IPL and other tournaments…South Asia should be made nuclear-free zone. Such move will lead to a gradual calibrated disarmament between India and Pakistan. Pakistan should give up its Middle-East embrace and instead connect with South Asia. Siachin should be declared a peace park". Pervez Hoodbhoy reportedly said that "an alarming trend has set-in in that country through acceptance of the militants as being a political force. A more dangerous trend is building up in the shape of conflict between various sects".
(To be concluded) |
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