Withdraw troops from entire J

Srinagar, Mar 3 (UNI) Demanding withdrawal of troops on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, the moderate Hurriyat Conference (HC) today said the next few months will be very crucial for the Kashmir issue.

''The time has come for India and Pakistan, already engaged in peace process to withdraw their troops from both parts of Jammu and Kashmir,'' the amalgam leaders said during a joint meeting of Executive Council, highest decision making body and Working Committee and General Council at its Rajbagh headquarter here today.

Withdrawal of troops would be the first step towards moving forward to find a durable and acceptable solution to the Kashmir issue, they said.

A spokesman of the HC said that at the meeting it was felt that the Kashmir issue has entered a decisive phase because of the supreme sacrifices made by the people of the state since 1947 and it is now everyone's duty to support the process which could help to resolve the issue peacefully.

The leaders said that they would have to redouble their efforts to make the peace process more result oriented so that a durable solution, acceptable to the people of the state, is achieved. The next few months will be very crucial, the spokesman added.

''We, as a main party to the dispute, extend support to India and Pakistan in their resolve to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the issue,'' he said adding that both the countries have now realised that there could be no military solution to this problem.

The withdrawal of troops would help to improve relations between India and Pakistan, he said adding that some mainstream political parties are trying to use this for their political gains and were only creating hurdles.

The HC will soon launch a ''Awami Rabta programme'' (contact with people) to generate support to the process, the spokesman said.

The leaders expressed concern over the human rights violations by the security forces.

UNI