KARACHI, March 28: All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Tuesday said that China should also be made a party for resolving the Kashmir dispute as it had control over a large chunk of the territory. Addressing the final round of a Kashmir conference at the World Social Forum, he said: “The All Parties Hurriyat Conference is preparing a roadmap-2020 for the resolution of this dispute in which we will also recommend for the inclusion of China as a party.”

He said ground realities would determine the roadmap.

“Forces of globalisation could not be ignored in this issue,” he said, adding that Kashmiris were the weakest party in this dispute while the other two — India and Pakistan — were nuclear powers.

“Kashmir is a huge tragedy and the very relations between Pakistan and India depend on the solution of this issue. These two countries have to decide to which direction this issue should proceed.”

He suggested that the Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) forum should be expanded in accordance with aspirations and wishes of the Kashmiri people.

He said Pakistan and India would be given representation in the future parliament of the proposed united Kashmir. “If our roadmap is implemented it would resolve all the disputes by 2020,” he stressed.

“This issue should be resolved through phased measures,” he said, adding that the Kashmiri leadership on both sides of the Line of Control should also change their mindset.

Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan of the Muslim Conference said he saw a united Kashmir by 2020. “By then Kashmir would be a prosperous and independent region where everyone will have equal rights irrespective of his caste and creed,” he observed.

Mohammad Shafi Uri of the National Conference said that no solution should be discussed without mentioning globalisation which was hovering over the world.

He said Pakistan and India were engaged in a peace process but they were not putting the ‘core issue’ on priority which was a negative message for the Kashmiris.

Tariq Hameed Kurra of the People’s Democratic Party said his party was part of the Congress-led coalition in India and both the people in uniform and without uniform were equally responsible for the human rights violations in Kashmir.

“We are often branded as the agents of Pakistan and ISI but we think ourselves the agents of Kashmiri people,” he said.

RIGHTS ABUSE: Meanwhile, journalists from across the Line of Control discussed human rights issues in the disputed territory and expressed concern over militancy.    The dialogue was part of the sessions on Kashmir.   Anuradha Bhasin focused on excesses and rape cases of Kashmiri women and said women were the worst affected section of population in the Valley.

“At present at least 80,000 people are orphans and 30,000 women are widows and these figures do not include the numbers of Doda and Poonch districts,” she said.

She said a large number of women had been assaulted and the first such incident was highlighted in Poshpura village where Indian troops had spared no one from an eight-year girl to a 60-year woman and raped all of them.

Ms Bhasin said a military officer raped a woman and her daughter in the Hundwara district but he had not been held responsible for the offence and was punished merely for ‘misconduct’.

Balraj Puri said: “The violent acts of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front forced a large number of Hindus to migrate from Kashmir to safer places.”

He claimed that there was a ‘third group’ in Kashmir which was active in the Valley and was out of anyone’s control.

“After emergence of this group Hindus and Sikhs were killed in different parts of Kashmir and this group has claimed that its militants could launch attacks anywhere in India,” said Mr Puri, adding that after this announcement New Delhi was rocked by bomb explosions.

Pundit Veer Munshi, a Kashmiri artist, displayed over two dozens of his paintings. He said cultural activities in the territory were on the decline due to militancy.

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz of Srinagar said the conflict had badly affected the freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

“There was a vibrant media industry in Kashmir till 1989 when at least 40 newspapers would hit the newsstands, but since the insurgency it has become immensely difficult to report the facts and newspaper industry has also faced huge losses,” he said.

According to him, the parties in Kashmir fell in two categories. “In the first category there are political parties being dubbed as pro-India and the rest are called as secessionists or freedom lovers.”

He said in such a situation it was not possible to report what actually was happening.

“Besides, we are also being threatened by the Indian Border Security Forces.”

He pointed out that two major Indian news agencies had deputed typists to report about Kashmir. When these news items reached Delhi, the desk changed it drastically.