Message Board

Is US using the Kashmir issue to try and get a permanent foothold in South Asia? Post your views

Srinagar: All Party Hurriyat Conference on June 27 welcomed President A P J Abdul Kalam's visit to the state but asked him to accept Kashmir as a disputed territory.

"The President A P J Abdul Kalam is visiting Jammu and Kashmir. We hope that during his Kashmir tour, he would accept the reality that the issue and problems of Jammu and Kashmir can only be solved when the process of talks and dialogue moves forward. By giving ritualistic statements and by taking traditional stand, this issue will not be solved. If the leadership refuses to accept that Jammu and Kashmir issue is not disputed, if the government says it is an integral part, then they are very far away from the truth. The reality is that the issue of Kashmir is as disputed as it was 55 years ago," senior Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq told a Friday congregation in a mosque in Srinagar.

Appreciating the recent peace initiatives being taken by India and Pakistan, Mirwaiz Farooq said the Hurriyat, which bands some 22 separatist religious and political organisations, will not play spoilsport.

"Today an attempt is being made to open the process of dialogue with a new perspective. India and Pakistan are trying to come close. There are hopes that a dialogue will begin. Hurriyat will not play a spoilsport," said Farooq.

ANI