- Published:10/13/2011 1:00:00 PM
- Updated: 10/13/2011 10:33:57 AM
- By: PBI
- Filed Under: srinagar
SRINAGAR, Oct 13 ( PBI): Chairman Hurriyat Conference (M) , Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, today said an “out of box” solution to Kashmir lies outside the constitutions of India and Pakistan.
“Hurriyat Conference believes that there are only two ways to address the Kashmir problem. Either you can go by international agreements which are there on Kashmir including UN resolutions or if that is not acceptable to India and if we are talking about an out of box solution, you have to probably look above the constitution of India and Pakistan so that a new mechanism can be arrived at,” Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told Press Bureau of India.
“When you talk within the ambit of Indian constitution, it does not deal with the other side of the Kashmir because Hurriyat position is very clear that when we talk of Kashmir, it means the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir as it existed on 14 August 1947. So any settlement to Kashmir within the Indian constitution is not going to address the other side of Kashmir.”
Mirwaiz’s statement comes in the backdrop of a proclaimed report on a “permanent political settlement of the Kashmir problem” by the three member panel of interlocutors appointed by New Delhi in the aftermath of blood-spattered unrest in 2010.
Mandated to suggest the contours of a political settlement to the Kashmir problem within the Indian constitution, the panel submitted its report to Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi yesterday.
“They are talking of pre-1953 position, Autonomy, etc. Kashmiris had all this and it was taken away from them. So we are saying that unless and until aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir are taken into consideration, no forward movement is possible.”
Commenting on report by the interlocutors, Mirwaiz said that there was no need for a committee to come and give recommendations. “Government of India knows the problem very well and there is no need for any committee which can give recommendations but can’t discuss political solutions.”
“If you look at the whole process, it aims to end there. This is not how we can move forward. These (recommendations) are all CBMs which probably create conducive atmosphere for dialogue to happen and if dialogue has to start, government of India has to be clear as how it wants to approach the problem.”
The forward movement was impossible until New Delhi focuses on the “real issue” which, he said, was not about economic incentives, jobs or healthcare.
“Yes, these are the issues which we will like government to address,” he added.
Divulging about his recent overseas tour, Mirwaiz claimed that there is lot of realization at the international level about peace in south Asia, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan being linked with the resolution of Kashmir issue. “We believe that every day this realization is growing that you can’t have peace in south Asia unless India and Pakistan cooperate with each other and that cooperation is not going to happen without Kashmir being solved. We are very hopeful that if Palestine gets resolved or it gets closer to the resolution it will definitely give a boost to the Kashmir issue as well. The way in which Palestinians are going about at the United Nations, they have started a process of getting recognized as an independent entity and I think that will definitely give boost to the Kashmir cause,” he said, adding, “I think both United Nations and the OIC will seize that opportunity and realize that justice has to be done with the people of Palestine and the Kashmir as both of them are interlinked and the oldest issues at United Nations.”
Referring to the recent episode at the United Nations over Kashmir, Mirwaiz said, “This is totally unrealistic approach which has been adopted by the government of India or even by the interlocutors yesterday when they spoke about the ambit of the constitution. India has to recognize that Kashmir is a disputed territory. They have agreements with Pakistan, they have international agreements at the United Nations....Kashmir is not like any other state vis-à-vis they can say it is an integral part of the India. It has a history, a background and it is high time they realize it,” he said.
“It is very unfortunate that the people who realize this are attacked. For example yesterday’s incident with Prashant Bhushan is an indication that how intolerant the people of India or some elements are becoming because they don’t know the truth about Kashmir. They have been fed with lies by government, media and I think when we tried to tell them the truth we met with same response in Chandigarh, Kolkata and New Delhi . They don’t let you talk and if this happens in the biggest democracy of the world, then this is most unfortunate thing. I think the level of intolerance is absolutely minimal in India but we hope that Anna Hazare’s team and other civil society members will not yield to this pressure because if they believe in humanity, justice and tolerance, I think Kashmir is the biggest example of injustice and they can’t keep silent what is happening in Kashmir.”
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