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Pro-Indian Leader Asks Delhi to Change Glacial Mindset on Kashmir

By Fayaz Wani

Srinagar, July 3: The pro-Indian leader and former chief minister of Kashmir, Mohammad Mohammad Sayed on Friday asked the Indian government to change the glacial mindset on Kashmir.

"Unless the glacial mindset that has been defined by decades of mistrust and suspicion is pierced through with bold political action, no headway would be possible," the former chief minister and patron of Peoples Democratic Party said.

Urging a reorientation of the fundamentals of its approach to Kashmir and its bilateral resolution with Pakistan, Mufti said Government of India will have to deal with the issue at a much higher level than the straitjacket of a policy, drafted and dictated by officials, would allow it to. "The prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the political leadership of India under him will have to rise to highest level of statesmanship to take Kashmir out of the intractable hole we find ourselves in," he said.

Mufti said Kashmir had been a victim of unkept promises all through its history of strife and misery. "The promises made by Dr Singh of making the LOC irrelevant or implementing the recommendations of the Working Groups should not meet the same fate," he said.

He said the problem of Kashmir has not to be viewed as a mere security challenge or a matter of territorial integrity alone, either of India or Pakistan, but the two countries must appreciate that they are dealing with the destinies of over ten million people marked by distinct intellectual accomplishments, civilization depth and keen political awareness. "Use of force to deal with this problem has long back outlived its utility and it is time that significant, substantial and visible steps are taken to restore the confidence of the people of the state to work towards an amicable resolution," he said.

Describing the demands of the PDP to revoke AFSPA and remove armed forces from civilian areas and internal security duty as the 'irreducible minimum' to find a path forward, Mufti said the line dictated by officials and unfortunately towed by the political leadership so far goes against the very spirit of accession. "Kashmir has not acceded to the armed forces of India but to its vibrant democratic system, influences of moderation and economic opportunity, all of which have unfortunately had limited forays into Kashmir," he said.

Referring to the current unrest in the state, he said it was not enough to say that the situation was fragile or dismiss major human tragedies as minor incidents.

Mufti said it is time that our leadership in Delhi reaches out to Pakistan in its hour of crisis when that country has started a serious engagement with forces of violence that have had the potential of destabilizing the whole region including our country as well. "Any message of goodwill from us at this juncture instead of the somewhat condescending attitude from New Delhi could go a long way in building bridges with the people of that country which is fortunately at the moment having a democratic government in place. This would also be the appropriate time to engage Pakistan on Kashmir before the stands in that country and in ours are again defined by hawkish utterances and hard stances," he said.

Fayaz Wani reports on life in Srinagar, Kashmir.