Economic packages, gunpoint can’t solve Kashmir: Omar

Srinagar: Advocating the need for a political solution to Kashmir issue, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the issue could neither be solved through economic packages nor could it be done on gunpoint.

“The psyche and mindset of the people of the state has not been understood so far which is the main cause for distances between centre and the state. The Kashmir issue needs to be addressed politically. Economic packages are not solution to the issue nor can it be found on the point of gun. Of course economic and other packages help in calming down people but they can never be the lasting solution”, Omar said during a function for release of a newspaper here. While expressing gratitude to the centre for the economic packages, the Chief Minister called for a lasting solution of the issue ‘which could address its external dimension’.
Expressing displeasure over non-implementation of the interlocutors’ report, he said if a need arose for more such interventions in future nobody would dare to come forward for talking to them. “If God forbid such situation arose again and the centre sends such teams to the valley, who would talk to them”, Omar asked and added that he would himself also desist from talking to them. “People know there has been no action on their recommendations or the report of former interlocutors. It would be difficult for them to trust any teams that could arrive here from Delhi”.
While stressing the need for beginning of a dialogue, the Chief Minister said that expecting any major breakthrough in the near future would amount to fallacy. “We should not expect any major change before the general elections. There is hardly any space for any major political development. However, dialogue should be started and those people who are ready for a dialogue should come forward without wasting any time”, he added.
He said people of Kashmir should not be given the signal that nobody takes notice of the issue unless they raise agitations. “People should not be made to feel that if they dont raise noise or protests, there is no one to listen to them. Unlike in the past, New Delhi should take steps in right directions rather than waiting for the crisis to erupt again, like in 2010”, he said.