The Kashmiri APHC leaders have described the present era of cordiality between Pakistan and India as ripe for settlement of the decades-old Kashmir dispute, saying that bright chances stood for resolution of the dispute under President Pervez Musharraf. "It would be unfortunate if the dispute remained unresolved during Musharraf's tenure," they said.
Mir Waiz Umar Farooq, Maulvi Abbas Ansari, Abdul Ghani Bhutt, Bilal Ghani Lone and Abdullah Tahari in an interview with Business Recorder here on Friday expressed more or less identical views on the present status and future of Kashmir.
Bilal Ghani Lone, President of People's Conference, said: "General Musharraf is in a strong position, being the President as well as Chief of the Army, and could put his weight in finding a correct solution to the dispute. Kashmiri leadership and India should cash in on this situation and show flexibility in moving towards finding a solution to the dispute and removing the irritants.
The APHC leaders said that all parties to the Kashmir issue should realize that this is the best time to go forward for a resolution of this issue.
Mir Waiz Umer Farooq expressed fear that if the ongoing peace process did not culminate in success, more complications might surface. However, he said he was optimistic regarding this ongoing process.
He said that there was commonality of views in a meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and the Hurriyat leaders. "President Musharraf had asked us that the Kashmiri leadership should take initiatives for the resolution of Kashmir issue", he said.
A big shift has been witnessed as now the leadership of Pakistan was talking about what the Kashmiris would get from the resolution of the Kashmir dispute, rather than its earlier stand that what Pakistan was to get, he said.
"It is time for all Kashmiris to be united," he stressed.
He said that during his visit to the United States of America, about 35 different formulas had been put before him regarding resolution of the Kashmir issue. He said that Pakistan and Kashmiri leadership have shown more flexibility in this process, and urged that India should do the same, if it was serious in this process.
Abdul Ghani Bhatt said that the future of Kashmiri people and peace in the South Asian region could not be secured without resolving this issue. He said that the US has its own interests in the region and China too. This can not be ignored.
He said that Pakistan and Kashmiris have rejected the Line of Control as permanent border. "It was only Cease Fire line, which was later known as the control line", he added.
He said that the visit of the Kashmiri leaders to Pakistan was a great mission and it would have a definitely positive impact on the overall situation.
The former chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Maulvi Abbas Ansari, said that more than 100,000 Kashmiris had been killed in the last 15 years and thousands had left their homes and migrated to other places. "We don't want that more Kashmiri people should be killed and want a peaceful resolution of the issue", he added.
He said that there were discrepancies in the Simla Agreement. First, the Kashmir dispute was not defined in clear terms in the agreement and, secondly, no timeframe was given for the resolution of the issue.
Bilal Ghani Lone said that they are observing a very positive change, which could lead to the resolution of the Kashmir issue. "Our doors are open for every Kashmiri group, including those who could not come with us during this visit, and they could join us in this peace process for resolution of Kashmir issue", he said.
He said that it was time to realize the situation and emotional steps would be harmful for this peace process.
He said that the issue could not be resolved without taking the Kashmiris into confidence.
The Secretary of Democratic Freedom Party, Abdullah Tahari, said that they want such a resolution of the issue in which Kashmir would not be divided into several parts. "We will not accept division of Kashmir on creed, caste and religion basis", he added.
Comments
Comments are closed.