JKDF asks India, Pak to work on Kashmir issue

New Delhi, Feb 13: The Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Forum (JKDF) today urged India and Pakistan to take concrete measures for an early resolution of the Kashmir issue to end "human loss".

''Time has come to make the much-needed breakthrough on this most crucial issue.... Both the countries should initiate concrete measures so that no more people are killed,'' JKDF Chief Bhushan Bazaz said here.

He said there is a need to make a tangible movement forward which will make a visible impact on the ground.

''The people of the strife-torn state have suffered immensely during 18 years of militancy.... this should now,'' he added.

Expressing the hope that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf would expedite the peace process, Mr Bazaz said both the countries are committed to resolving the vexed issue.

He said ''some vested interests'' in India and Pakistan were trying to sabotage the peace process.

''These people are not interested in the resolution of the issue.... they want the violence to continue as their livelihood depended on the bloodshed,'' he added.

UNI