Deshpande, Tarigami call on President Musharraf

New Delhi, Mar 16 (UNI) Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande and Jammu and Kashmir CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami called on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf last night and held wide- ranging discussions on various issues, including Kashmir.

Ms Deshpande and Mr Tarigami, who attended the three-day Pugwash international conference on Kashmir in Islamabad, were accompanied by former deputy Army Chief Moti Dar.

Talking to UNI over telephone from Islamabad, Mr Tarigami said during the 45-minute meeting views on several issues, including Kashmir, were exchanged.

''The meeting was very cordial... proposals on resolution of Kashmir issue also came up,'' he added.

At the Pugwash conference, the CPI(M) leader called upon the Indian and Pakistani leadership to show flexibility and reconciliation in resolving contentious issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, to achieve common objective of people's welfare.

''Flexibility and reconciliation is the need of the hour.

Majority in the sub-continent want peace but the leadership of India and Pakistan has to exhibit the will and capacity to carry out the mandate. This means a change in the mind-set keeping in mind the sensitivities of Jammu and Kashmir as well as those of the two countries,'' he said.

Mr Tarigami said during the past 16 years, Jammu and Kashmir has suffered immensely as thousands of people have lost their lives.

''The lingering issue has resulted in immense human miseries, inflicting deep wounds upon the Kashmiri psyche and ethos. Its very existence is at stake today. We have a fractured state handed down to us in the aftermath of partition, accompanied by unprecedented bloodbath, displacement, division and disintegration of millions of families, ever known to the history of nations,'' he added.

''During the past 16 years, the areas under our graveyards have been increasing unimaginably, the wails and laments of the widows and the half-widows (a new class of suffering destitute women whose husbands are missing), orphans and mothers fill the atmosphere with pathos and melancholy,'' Mr Tarigami said.

UNI NR VD RK1758