Hurriyat leader worried as India, Pak armies clash
Separatists in Kashmir are worried owing to the increasing confrontation between Indian and Pakistani armies on border leading to civilian and soldiers deaths on both sides.
Moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq asked the leadership of both the countries to desist from any military adventurism, the consequences of which, he said, are directly borne by the people of J&K on “both sides and poor soldiers”.
Expressing serious concern over the escalation in violence, Mirwaiz wanted both the countries to “show maturity to peacefully resolve the issue and put an end to the conflict raging in the region for the past 70 years”.
In a statement Mirwaiz, who is under house arrest for the past few weeks, said the root cause of “tension, violence and bitterness between the two nuclear neighbors is the lingering Kashmir dispute”. He added that until both countries show a will to resolve the issue, innocent lives will con- tinue to be lost and Kashmiris will continue to suffer .
Mirwaiz said New Delhi has to shun its military approach and both India and Pakistan have to initiate serious steps towards resolving the basic dispute.
“By denying the reality of the dispute as New Delhi insists upon, it will not go away. Genuine struggles like in Kashmir that have a historical and democratic basis have to be engaged with and people's will and sentiments respected ,” he said.
“Dialogue and serious engagement are the means to be employed... If India relents its rigidity, it is high time that all the three stakeholders to the dispute India, Pakistan and most importantly the people of Kashmir get together and deliberate and resolve the dispute keeping the will and aspirations of the people of Kashmir in view, once for all,” he said.
The separatist leader said that while the situation at LoC was “war like”, it was no different in Kashmir itself.