Mirwaiz urges India, Pakistan to resume J&K dialogue soon

SRINAGAR: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, leader of All Parties Hurriyat Conference called for a peaceful solution to the Kashmir issue and said that further delay may aggravate the security and political situations in the South Asian region, foreign media reported.

“We at the APHC have always wanted a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue in accordance with the will and aspirations of all the people of J&K. We stand firm and committed on this demand,” it said in a statement here. He urged both India and Pakistan to resume dialogue at the earliest and seek a permanent and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue “as per the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, by including them as the main stakeholders”. It asserted that the people of the erstwhile state “are bearing the brunt of the conflict for the past 73 years and living in hellish conditions.”

Earlier, former Indian government interlocutor Mohammad Mukhtar Ansari (MM Ansari) has said that India’s last year’s decision to annex Jammu and Kashmir was tantamount to breaching a sacred trust and understanding between the two sovereign states.

In an exclusive conversation with Anadolu Agency a year after Indian government’s last year August 5 decisions, he said while the constitutional provision was rescinded to ensure faster development and containing militancy, the objectives have not been realised.

“The objective of restoring peace has therefore not been realized. Likewise, socioeconomic activities have also suffered due to which joblessness has increased. Heavy militarization of the region discourages all forms of public and private investments,” he said.

He also called on the urgent opening of tripartite talks between India, Pakistan, and China to resolve contentious issues and finalise their boundaries, which are critical for ensuring sustainable peace and development in the region.

“There is no reason why Prime Minister Modi government having absolute political mandate and authority should not engage the neighbors to resolve the contentious issues,” he said.

While criticising Indian government, a Srinagar based writer Safina Nabi said that India’s Article 370 experiment in Kashmir has failed.