Declare both parts of J

Srinagar, Apr 29 (UNI) Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has said India and Pakistan must declare both parts of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir a free trade zone with unrestricted access to the people and goods of the two sides.

Addressing a public meeting at Aishmuqam in Pahalgam area of Anantnag district, he urged the Centre to speed up the internal confidence building process, including reduction of troops and revocation of the Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act (AFSPA), in Jammu and Kashmir.

The government should also strengthen and empower the legitimate people's institutions in the state, he added.

Mr Sayeed said these measures should be followed up with inter-state initiatives such as devising joint institutional mechanism by involving legislators from both sides of the state.

''Ultimately both India and Pakistan must declare Jammu and Kashmir a free trade zone with free access to the people and goods to and from the state,'' he added.

The PDP leader emphasised that any solution to the Kashmir issue must not only respect the dignity and aspirations of the people, but should afford adequate safeguards to the political and economic interests of the state.

''The people of Jammu and Kashmir are the ultimate arbitrators of the state's interests and they have to be given the rights and privileges a democratic set up guarantees them,'' he added.

The former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister said the emerging positive scenario heading towards reconciliation and resolution of the problem, for which the people of the state have sacrificed enormously, must be now unavoidably complemented with adequate and evident relief measures on the ground.

''The congregations and deliberations have to translate into action, sooner the better,'' he added.

Mr Sayeed said the people have always responded positively to the measures motivated by the vision of bringing dignified peace and prosperity to their lives. ''The just concerns and aspirations of the people should be the fundamental input for any solution.'' He said the underlying concept of the PDP's self-rule proposal, which it would present in the working group on the Centre-State relations, was political, economic and social justice for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

The former Union Home Minister said the PDP has emerged as the only political voice in the state that carried ahead its political and the developmental agenda simultaneously without compromising one for the other.

''After the 2002 Assembly elections, for the first time in the history of Jammu and Kashmir, the state government jumped to the forefront initiating, driving and catalysing the peace process for the resolution of the issue,'' he added.

Mr Sayeed said the process was supplemented by adequate relief measures addressing the security and development concerns of the people. ''This holistic approach toward the problem became the crucial element for transforming the situation,'' he added.

UNI