Only small group of Kashmiris speak about UN resolution: Padgaonkar

By IANS,

Srinagar : Except for a small focused group of people who speak about the implementation of the United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution on Kashmir, a majority of the people in Kashmir want social, economic and political rights, Dilip Padgaonkar, central interlocutor, said here Friday.


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“Except for a small group of focused people who spoke to us about the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution on Kashmir, most locals want social, economic and political rights here,” Padgaonkar told reporters here.

The central interlocutor said the majority of people here want human rights to be respected and those responsible for their violations to be brought to book.

“There is a need to carry forward the process of reconciliation that is presently going on here,” Padgaonkar said.

The interlocutor also said his team had decided to formally approach the Kashmiri separatist leaders for a meeting with them.

Earlier Friday, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the moderate Hurriyat group, told reporters he had been approached by Padgaonkar for a meeting with him, but the Mirwaiz had declined the request stating that unless his demands for withdrawal of troops, revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and the release of political prisoners was met such a meeting would not yield any fruitful result.

The Mirwaiz left for London to attend a seminar on Kashmir being organized by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a British defence and security think tank.

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