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| December 23, 2002 | Monday | Shawwal 18, 1423 |
Talks must focus on Kashmir: Qayyum
KARACHI, Dec 22: The chairman of the Kashmir Committee, Sardar Abdul Qayyum, has said that the Pakistan-India dialogue should be focused on the Kashmir issue.
Expressing concern over the growing Indian intransigence to resume dialogue unless they were held on New Delhi’s terms, Mr Qayyum told Dawn that such an attitude could plunge the region and the world into another catastrophic war which would not be confined to conventional methods.
He said that the best alternative was to initiate a dialogue on Kashmir and no attempt should be made to sidetrack it by focusing on the so-called confidence building measures.
“None of the confidence building measures can work unless the core issue of Kashmir is addressed urgently,” he said and added: “To expect Kashmiris they will give up their just struggle is a naive and unrealistic approach.”
He said that the Indian stance was becoming harder and claimed that the troop deployment along the border was the same and there had been no pull out.
When his attention was drawn to the western reports that tension between the two arch rivals in South Asia was on the decline as they saw reduction in deployment, Mr Qayyum said they might have such information which was privy to them but as far as he was concerned he believed that there had been no reduction.
He appreciated the concern shown by the world community and the effort it was making for normalizing the relations between the two countries. But he pointed out that they were not doing for the love of Kasmiris, but to avert a catastrophe.
The Kashmir committee chairman also expressed concern over the growing militancy in India which was evident from the outcome of Gujarat polls and the massacre of Muslims.
Mr Qayyum was in the city to condole with the family of late P. K. Shahani, who was also a member of the committee.
Paying tributes to Mr Shahani, he said: “Mr Shahani was a great humanitarian who had the element of Sufism in him. We have lost a fine man who believed in what he was doing. We will not forget the efforts he made for the cause.”
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