Dialogue holds hope for Kashmir

New Delhi: A senior Kashmiri separatist leader on Tuesday admitted that dialogue alone holds the hope for a peaceful resolution of the vexed Kashmir dispute

According to the All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, of the two options available for resolution of the Kashmir issue, tripartite talks involving India, Pakistan and representatives of Kashmir was a better option rather than implementation of the UN resolution that had advocated self-determination as the possible solution over half a decade ago.

Acceptable solution

"India and Pakistan have tried to solve the Kashmir issue through dialogue. But they cannot thrust a solution on us unless we are party to it and the solution is acceptable to us, since we [Hurriyat] are custodians of the Kashmiri sentiments," Farooq said while interacting with the international media at the Foreign Correspondents Club of South Asia.

Farooq added that since Pakistan held one-third of the Kashmir, involving Pakistan in dialogue was a prerequisite to resolve the dispute.

The press conference was held under tight security amidst violent protests organised by the displaced Kashmiri Hindus and rightwing Hindu nationalist forces.

Farooq is currently on a mission to connect with the people of India and explain to them their point of view. "The problem is that people of India tend to see the Kashmir issue through the Pakistani prism. They must know there is another point of view that needs to be heard, they must understand that it is an indigenous movement," the Hurriyat leader said.

His earlier attempts to connect with people of India in Chandigarh and Kolkata were also marked with violent protests.

Protesters threw stones on the vehicle carrying the 37-year-old Farooq and the Delhi Police rounded up protesters and confined them to a bus during the time the Kashmiri leader interacted with the international media.

Peace prevails

According to Farooq, the Indian government is not keen on resolving the Kashmir dispute, although the violence has gone down in the Valley and peace is prevailing. "You cannot wish away the Kashmir issue. Resolving the dispute is in India's interest. In the last few months 115 Kashmiris have been killed. We could do nothing as most of us were under detention.

"You cannot muzzle the voice of the people through the barrel of a gun," the Kashmiri leader said, adding that the government was pushing Kashmiri youth towards radicalism, although there was a shift from violence to non-violence in the state over the past six years.

The incidents of stone pelting, he felt, were basically a reaction to the happenings in the state over the past two decades. The Kashmiri leader declined suggestions that separatists were becoming unpopular since a large number of Kashmiris are not in favour of protests and strikes.

"We at the Hurriyat firmly believe that protests and strikes can only be part of a strategy and not the strategy in itself. They cannot be permanent," Farooq said.

The separatist leader also offered to contest elections in future provided it becomes necessary after the tripartite talks that they want. "We are not afraid of elections. Kashmir is a political issue and not a Hindu-Muslim issue. We are a political outfit and will contest elections if required," he said.

According to him, elections cannot solve the problem of the state, since both India and Pakistan need to understand the aspirations of the people of the state.