Don't play with peace process for the electoral gains : Mufti

Jammu , Dec 25 (UNI) Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said the country's leadership, cutting across the party lines, must fully support the ongoing Indo-Pak peace process instead of ''playing politics with it for electoral gains''.

Mr Sayeed, who is the patron of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), expressed surprise and dismay over the remarks of the senior BJP leader, L K Advani, who had alleged that the UPA government was making compromises on Kashmir.

''As the main opposition, the BJP must stand behind the process, initiated by the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif in February 1999,'' he said, in a statement here.

''In fact the present peace process got the much-needed fillip when Mr Vajpayee extended hand of friendship to Pakistan from Srinagar in April 2003,'' the Mufti said.

Noted that the subsequent positive response ''it evoked among the people and the establishment on both sides gave the process the legitimacy and strength to move forward, he said that during the NDA regime, the process gained substantial ground within the Congress party and the government in the state fully supporting all the major initiatives and confidence building moves.

''Now when the peace process has reached a crucial stage, similar positive response is expected from the BJP to any move by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh aimed at continuing and consolidating the process,'' he said.

Mr Sayeed further said both Mr Vajpayee and Dr Singh have pursued the peace process with sincerity of purpose and highest levels of statesmanship.

Making a strong plea against exploiting the Kashmir issue for electoral gains, he said this ''human tragedy'' has shadowed the region's destiny for over five decades and the time has come to replace the pain with prosperity.

''The pain of Kashmiris has reached a level, where the yearning for peace has gained substantial ground,'' he said adding that the destiny of not only the people of Jammu and Kashmir, but the whole region is linked to the peace process.

The process has, over a period of time, garnered overwhelming public support in both the countries and any move to undermine it could have disastrous implications, he warned.

Mr Sayeed said the ''imaginative change'' in the contours of the present debate on the resolution of the Kashmir issue and the freshness of the approach has made obsolete much of the earlier rhetoric from both the countries.

''The challenge before both the countries now is to convert these favorable and refreshing circumstances into a meaningful and peaceful resolution process instead of wasting time on those portions of the maze that they have already visited,'' He expressed the hope the BJP leadership would play an equally responsible role in taking it to its logical conclusion, by extending full support to the resolution process.

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