By TwoCircles.net news desk
Jammu: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) today said the reduction of troops and revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) are the fundamental ingredients of the peace process and these measures will have a visible impact on the fast-changing ground situation of Kashmir.
Addressing a meeting of the party workers from the Jammu rural here this morning, PDP Patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said while vacating of schools and hospitals is a welcome step in the right direction, it must mark the beginning of a larger process of thinning the troops from the civilian areas in a phased manner. “Thinning the deployment of troops in the State would not only signal a commitment to carrying forward the peace process, but would be a significant goodwill message to the people of Jammu & Kashmir,” he said and added that the time has come for the leadership of the State and the country to act with courage and determination to lay the strong foundations for peace in the State and the region.
Sayeed said while the renewed peace efforts by India and Pakistan have generated a hope for peace and stability in the region, the leadership of the two country’s must now make concerted movement towards dismantling the political barriers to free movement of people and goods in the region. “Given the emerging global and regional equations, the leadership of India and Pakistan must act in their own enlightened self-interest to resolve the problems confronting Jammu & Kashmir,” he said and added that the two countries must look beyond the traditional notions of security and instead focus on cooperative security. He said the people of Jammu & Kashmir who have suffered immensely because of the region’s hostilities, would benefit the most from such a cooperative mechanism.
The PDP Patron emphasized that the Government of India should necessarily at the same time speed up the process of implementing the intra-State confidence building measures proposed by the Working Groups. “Implementation of the recommendations of the Working Groups would help to deepen the trust and facilitate progress on the resolution of the Kashmir issue,” he said and added that delaying the same could only brew cynicism and estrangement to the detriment of the peace efforts.
Sayeed said PDP welcomes the supportive voices emerging from various quarters on the crucial political and economic issues raised by the party to facilitate peaceful resolution of the State’s problems. “It has been our consistent opinion that all the shades of political opinion in the State have to reconcile their positions to facilitate a workable solution of the problem,” he said and added that it is a matter of great satisfaction for PDP that the party has set an agenda for the peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue that is slowly but steadily gaining strength, both within and outside the State.
Senior PDP leaders Ved Mahajan, Murtaza Khan, Dhaman Bhasin, Renu Azad, Ramesh Kaul, Baldev Singh Salathia and Dr Gafoor were present on the occasion.