Mirwaiz urged upon US to facilitate tripartite dialogue

Srinagar: While calling his faction a ‘pro-resolution’ force, chairman moderate Hurriyat Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today reiterated that third party intervention was a must in resolving Kashmir as bilateral engagements of the past hadn’t yielded any substantial progress regarding the resolution 63 year old issue.

He urged upon the US to facilitate tripartite dialogue involving India, Pakistan and Kashmir if it wanted to bring about peace in South Asia region.

“We don’t want direct involvement of the US regarding Kashmir issue but want it to facilitate the tripartite dialogue. The US, over the years, has stated its wish to bring about peace in South Asian; it can be only achieved if Kashmir issue was resolved. There is a huge deficit between India and Pakistan; US can mediate by bringing both the countries together,” Mirwaiz told reporters during a press conference at his Nigeen Residence.

Referring to the various bilateral engagements between India and Pakistan and India and Kashmiri leaders, Mirwaiz felt, that tripartite dialogue was a way to go about resolving Kashmir issue, what he believed was a’ political’ one.

According to correspondent, he said, we want political resolution of this political issue. Bilateral engagements of past like Shimla or Agra agreement, Indira-Abdullah or Rajiv-Farooq Accord, haven’t done enough.

Mirwaiz, on the occasion, divulged details about his amalgam’s signature campaign started 24th last month, which according to him was a ‘symbolic gesture’ to impress upon Barack Obama to intervene in order to resolve Kashmir issue.

The petition, Mirwaiz said, was signed by nearly 2 lakh people in Indian Kashmir besides thousands in Pakistan’s Kashmir and would be sent to US embassies in New Delhi and Islamabad respectively  to put forward viewpoint of Kashmiris before him.

Mirwaiz, who is also the chief cleric of the valley, said India can achieve its economic goals if there was political stability in the region, which, he felt, could be possible only after resolution of Kashmir issue.

“We know Obama’s visit to India will focus on economic development of India and Pakistan. But India can’t achieve its economic goals till there is a political stability in the region. For that it has to resolve Kashmir issue. It was in the national interest of India to resolve the issue,” he said.

He warned that if Kashmir issue was put on a backburner even after this summer’s ‘peaceful movement’, Kashmir’s might resort to an ‘armed struggle’ to make them heard.

Mirwaiz urged the US to appoint a special envoy for South Asia region and said, “US should appoint a special envoy for South Asia region as they have done in issues Palestine, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Northern Ireland.”

While praising Indian Civil Society groups for their efforts to put across the Kashmir viewpoint in India, Mirwaiz expressed his surprise over Indian Political parties’  ‘objectionable reaction’ to the appeals from Kashmiris for the third party intervention.

“It is an internationally accepted political rule (third party intervention). India approaches World Bank and International Monetary Fund when it is confronted with economic problems but raises objections when there is a need for the same during political disputes like Kashmir,” he said.

Advocating unification of all pro-freedom groups, he said, that there was a need for a Common Minimum Programme to make sure that freedom struggle wasn’t affected and common man didn’t suffer either.

“While giving protest calendars we should make sure that freedom struggle doesn’t lose its momentum and problems of common man are also taken care of,” he said.

Reacting to the  twin incidents of ‘threats’ to Sikh community by ‘uniformed men’  at Mattan and Baramulla in a span of three days  Mirwaiz feared that some ‘vested interest’  groups were hell bent on disrupting communal harmony in the valley.

“There are some elements that want minorities and majority community to fight amongst each other but we won’t let it happen. We have already made it a point that joint coordination committee of majority and minority groups is formed to keep intact the communal harmony in the valley,” Mirwaiz said adding that when his faction talks about Kashmir it includes minorities as well.