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| September 27, 2005 | Tuesday | Sha'aban 22, 1426 |
Kashmir meeting in New Delhi
LAHORE, Sept 26: A round-table conference of concerned citizens and intellectuals of Pakistan, India and both sides of Jammu and Kashmir will be held from Sept 30 to Oct 2 in New Delhi by the Centre for Dialogue and Reconstruction (CDR), India.
The Pakistani delegation invited to the conference will comprise Dr Mubashir Hasan, former Azad Kashmir High Court chief justice Abdul Majeed Malik and Kashmir Action Committee president Justice Syed Sharif Husain Bokhari.
The Indian delegation will include former cabinet secretary B.G Deshmukh, former Rajasthan High Court chief justice Anil Dev Singh, Jammu University vice-chancellor Dr Amitabh Mattoo, Kashmir Times chief editor Ved Bhasin, Srinagar Bar Association member Zaffer Shah, former minister Talib Husain, Delhi University lecturer Farida Abdullah Khan, former vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University Hamid Ansari.
According to a letter sent to the Pakistani invitees, the suggestion for holding the conference was made by participants of an Intra-Kashmir Dialogue held at Srinagar in April last to evolve a consensus on the Kashmir solution.
The dialogue had sharply brought out the divergent views from different regions, communities as well as two parts of Jammu and Kashmir. The opinion was divided on what should come first: end to violence or solution to the Kashmir dispute. The participants were of the view that both the issues were inter-related.
The letter said the conference would discuss points: Are CBMs the only solution for the Kashmir dispute? How can maximum benefit be derived from CBMs to neutralize the atmosphere of distrust and suspicion?
What kind of solution will satisfy the majority in divided parts of Jammu and Kashmir state, Pakistan and India without causing major upheavals?
What are the chances of autonomous cooperation that will help reduce the bitterness and narrow the differences caused by separation?
In the past 57 years along with the diversity of opinions, separate physical and political identities have emerged in three divided parts of Jammu and Kashmir. Failure to understand these aspirations and reconcile them by successive governments has aggravated tension between the principal regions of the state and added complications to the overall problem of the divided state. How practical and possible is it today to unite the divided state?
Does the solution need to be based on unity of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state or are there other administrative arrangements that will address the aspirations of the people of the state? Can we preserve and restore cultural, ethnic and regional diversity through cross-regional initiatives, institutional and constitutional measures? What is the scope for reconciling the regions through principle of federalism and devolution?
The letter said the conference would be a closed door meting and the media would not be allowed to attend it.
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