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| 17 October 2004 | Sunday | 02 Ramazan 1425 |
Peace process gains momentum: Farooq
SRINAGAR, Oct 16: India and Pakistan now appear to be serious in solving the Kashmir issue, Chairman of the Awami Action Committee, Mir Waiz Umar Farooq.
Kashmir Media Service quoted the Kashmiri leader as saying that the peace dialogue process had recently gathered momentum.
He was addressing a Friday prayers congregation at the Jamia Masjid here.
Mir Waiz said that the international community and world powers now firmly believed that relations between India and Pakistan could only improve if the Kashmir issue was solved. Therefore, there was "no reason for us to get disappointed or discouraged," he said.
The Kashmiri leader said that since 1947 many had tried to politically sabotage the people's demand for a just and amicable solution of the Kashmir issue, adding that at every stage, these elements had failed.
The recent boycott of the so-called by-elections to the Batmaloo and Pahalgam assembly constituencies had once again foiled the plans of such elements, adding that they should refrain from repeating such mistakes.
He said that Kashmiris had been sacrificing their lives for the last 57 years for ensuring that they get the right to choose their destiny, adding that the people would also ensure that the ongoing movement was taken to its logical conclusion.
Urging the Kashmiris to be patient, Mir Waiz said that the Kashmiris had been deprived of their just right for more than half a century and they continue to fight for it even today, adding that the day was not far when the Kashmiris would get a chance to choose their destination. He said that patience was a very important component of every movement, including the ongoing movement in Kashmir.
BUS SERVICE: Leader of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umer Farooq has called for initiating a bus service between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar without passport or visa.
"The APHC supports a step by step approach for a final solution of the issue. The restoration of the bus service would serve as a vital confidence-building measure. It will also help gauging Indian seriousness towards the issue of Kashmir," he told a satellite TV channel.
Kashmiris, he said, did not need any permission for bilateral meetings but if the need arose, the system in vogue between 1947 and 1953 could be restored, adding that during that period, relevant deputy commissioners used to issue permits to the intending visitors.-APP
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