Attending the Pugwash Conference on “Restarting Indo-Pak Peace Process” held in Islamabad on Thursday, the Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti urged both India and Pakistan to restore peace process.
She said the post-election scenario in Jammu & Kashmir has created an enabling environment for the peaceful and amicable settlement of the Kashmir issue. “A new chapter for amicable resolution of the problem has been opened in Jammu & Kashmir that could pave way for peace in the entire region,”
She said the new situation in the State is an opportunity as well as a challenge for India and Pakistan. “A challenge far more serious than the one that violence had posed,” she said and added that it seeks a response and an immediate answer to the question; what next?
Mehbooba said the stage is set in Jammu & Kashmir for a resolution of its problems as never before. “An Assembly has just been elected which reflects the aspirations and views of all the communities, regions and sub-regions of the State,” she said and added that this institution is morally, politically and legally empowered to represent all the stake-holders within the State in a dialogue process that aims at finding a permanent and lasting resolution to the problem.
PDP President said elections in Kashmir have not to be seen as an end to Kashmir problem but as a means to resolve it. She referred to the elections in Palestine in which Hamas had emerged as victorious, but since their representative character was not utilized to crack Palestine problem, situation there became murkier.
Mehbooba said there was no alternative to peace and the process set in motion by India and Pakistan in 2003 has to be carried forward irrespective of the efforts to sabotage it by mindless violence in either country.
“While force could put down violence for a while, ultimately the genesis of the problem has to be addressed to ensure durable peace and take people away from gun culture by removing the feelings of injustice, perceived or real,” she added.
PDP has already presented what it thinks is a workable roadmap for solution of Kashmir in the shape of its Self-Rule agenda that addresses both the external and internal dimensions of the problem.
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