Oct 21 Will Be Historic Day for Kashmir: Pro-Indian Leader

By Fayaz Wani

Srinagar, Sept 25 - Welcoming the Indo-Pak joint statement on the opening of Srinagar-Muzafarabad and Poonch-Rawalakote roads for trade, the pro-Indian Kashmiri leader and former chief minister of the Kashmir Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said October 21, 2008 would be a historic day for the people of Jammu and Kashmir on both sides of the divide.

"The sacrifices and peaceful mass upsurge of the people of Kashmir has finally made the leadership in New Delhi and Islamabad to recognize, respect and respond to their urges and aspirations," he said in a statement.

Mufti said the timely intervention and response of the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to the mounting public sentiment in Kashmir is a commendable step in the right direction. "I am confident that revival of Srinagar-Muzafarabad and Poonch-Rawalakote roads for trade would provide a lead for throwing open all other traditional cross-LoC routes including Suchetgarh-Sialkote, Kargil-Skardu and Leh-Mansarover-Tibet roads for free movement of people and goods," he said.

Stressing the need for making the cross-LoC movement of people and goods a meaningful move, he said it should not just be a symbolic exercise, but a fruitful confidence building measure that would have significant political and economic impact not only on the people of Kashmir, but the whole region. "Kashmir has historically remained part of Asian trade, business and cultural exchange and its Silk Road traditions are still alive in many forms that need to be rediscovered and redefined," he said.

"Expansion of the people to people contact, trade, commerce and economic cooperation in the region would not only provide an effective platform to develop and strengthen the Indo-Pak relations, but would also create a feasible environment for peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute," Mufti said and added that the political aspect of the Kashmir problem will be much more easier to resolve if Kashmir is provided the economic space it deserves in the region. He said the cross-LoC confidence building process started in April 2005, with the historic launch of Srinagar-Muzafarabad bus service, would achieve another historic milestone on October 21.

He said the discourse in Kashmir is increasingly becoming democratic and political as can be gauged from the recent developments. "It is the right time for Government of India to involve the civil society here in a constructive and comprehensive dialogue process to amicably resolve the political and economic dimensions of the problem through concrete confidence building initiatives," he said and added that it is perhaps for the first time since independence that Kashmiri voices and the sentiments of its people have started creating resonance across the sub-continent.

Fayaz Wani reports on life in Srinagar, Kashmir.