'Address Kashmir issue before it proves colossal'

Lolab (Kupwara), Apr 14: Urging India and Pakistan to initiate concrete measures for peaceful and ultimate settlement of the Kashmir issue, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said any delay will prove colossal for the entire region. Addressing a public meeting here, he said the fast changing ground realities in the sub-continent necessitate initiation of concrete measures for peaceful and ultimate settlement of the Kashmir issue.

''India and Pakistan must grab this historic opportunity and address the issue that has made the people of Jammu and Kashmir to pay a huge price,'' he said.

The former Chief Minister said while the external dimensions of the Kashmir issue are being handled through bilateral diplomacy, the initiative must be supplemented by substantial internal measures offering general relief to the people of the state.

However, he said all such processes and initiatives would be meaningless unless people on the ground, who have been the worst sufferers of the conflict, feel the change, He made it clear that the people of Jammu and Kashmir have to be carried along in the peace-building and reconciliation process to ensure its sustainability.

This fundamental fact, he said, has to be recognised to completely end the atmosphere of armed confrontation by replacing dependence on the security forces with greater trust in the people of the State Mr Sayeed said the people of the state have always responded positively to the initiatives aimed at improving the security situation and providing relief to the common man. This, he said, has been, in fact, the fundamental input in transforming the State's ground situation since 2002, facilitated by the Coalition government's ''Healing Touch'' policy.

He said there is a sea change in the State's security situation and the people's faith in the democratic institutions and processes is now growing day by day.

Recognising this reality, he said New Delhi must take steps to supplement the improving situation with measures that ensure greater playing field for the political forces and the civil society institutions to consolidate the gains of peace.

''Instead of relying on the security forces, New Delhi must empower the people politically and economically, as they are the biggest custodians of the State's interests,'' he maintained.

It is time that the State is brought out of the troubles that are not of its own making,'' he said, adding that the country has to move fast in bringing the democratic temper and character in its full force to address the alienation of its people.

UNI