01 November 2004	Monday	17 Ramazan 1425

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

LAHORE, Oct 31: Former Punjab governor Shahid Hamid said on Sunday the Kashmir issue should be put on the back burner.

Time was not ripe for the resolution of the issue, he said in his presidential remarks at a seminar on India-Pakistan relations and the role of the print media.

"Let's wait for some more time so that our Kashmiri brethren could get liberation in the real sense," Mr Hamid said.

The seminar was organized jointly by the media wing of the World Punjabi Congress and Spootanik at a local hotel.

The former governor said there had been no change in the Indian stance towards Pakistan. The external affairs ministry and the armed forces had said that even if the Kashmir issue was solved Pakistan would be a threat to India.

"Human rights' violation in Kashmir and fencing on the Line of Control is going on. There has been neither any change in the Wuller Barrage design nor any headway in the proposal to declare no-man's land near Siachen's point No 9842," he said.

Mr Hamid urged the print media of the two countries to play positive role for the promotion of peace.

WPC chairman Fakhar Zaman said the peace process between the two states would continue unabated. He appreciated the role of the print media in this regard.

He urged the people of India and Pakistan to boycott all the films, which were promoting hatred between the neighbouring states.

WPC vice-president Hameed Akhtar was happy that the efforts of his fellows like Asma Jahangir and Fakhar Zaman were bearing fruits.

Imtiaz Rashid said the civil society and non-government organization played more active role than the print media for bringing the two peoples closer. The response and comments of the print were not positive when the Dosti bus service was launched.