People optimistic about success of Round Table

Srinagar, May 23: Despite a refusal by the separatists to attend the two-day Round Table conference called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here from tomorrow, people on the streets are still optimistic about a positive outcome of the meeting.

It was very unfortunate that separatists are not taking part in the meeting which was called to find a way out how to address the long-pending issue of Kashmir which has already claimed thousands of lives and destroyed the economy of state, school teacher Mohammad Amin.

He said without the participation of the separatists, including both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference (HC), no major headway is possible on the Kashmir issue. However, some other issues could be addressed to during the meeting, he added.

''The Kashmir issue cannot be discussed with the mainstream political party leaders who have time and again declared that Kashmir was an integral part of India. The Prime Minister has now no alternative but to go ahead with the Round Table conference and discuss the other issues with the mainstream leaders,'' he said, blaming the authorities for not doing enough ground work to rope in the separatists in the talks which could have generated some hope about the core Kashmir issue.

However, a computer engineer Abdul Hamid had different view, saying it was an opportunity for the separatist leaders to put their point before the world through this conference.

''The world media would be covering the event and it was the time they highlight the Human Rights violations by the security forces and other related matters,'' he said.

UNI

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