Conference: ‘Trade, travel, key to grassroots resolution of Kashmir issue’

Kashmiri social activists living close to LoC demand opening of more travel and trade routes between Kashmir and G-B.

MUZAFFARABAD:

Kashmiri social activists living in areas close to the Line of Control (LoC) have demanded the opening of more travel and trade routes between the two parts of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B). They feel this is essential for the reunion of Kashmir families and a peaceful settlement to the Kashmir dispute.

The participants at the end of a Kashmir conference titled “Opportunities of peace in Kashmir” unanimously agreed that conditions for travel across the LoC and trade must be made easier and Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists from Indian Kashmir permitted to visit their religious places in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). The conference was organised by the British High Commission in collaboration with Islamic Relief at Bhurban.

They urged that the people of all five units, AJK, Indian Kashmir, Jammu (India), Leh and G-B be facilitated to meet each other to craft a viable and lasting solution to the Kashmir dispute and should also be included in negotiations between India and Pakistan concerning Kashmir.

The attendees believed that the Kashmiri nation is being divided on the basis of religion and geography while no one has tried to ask Kashmiris what they want, which shows that the major parties only want a resolution to Kashmir within the framework of their own ideology.

In their recommendations, the participants said that cross-LoC travel is already difficult as it takes several months to obtain a travel permit. Even the trade service that started as a symbolic gesture to facilitate traders on both sides of the border has been compromised by certain traders in India and Pakistan who have jumped on the opportunity to use it for tax evasion.

Similarly, travel across the border for divided families needs to be made easier, the participants said in their recommendations. Permits should be issued on the basis of domicile and old trade routes between AJK, G-B and Indian Kashmir should be re-opened.

The participants also urged India to allow all foreign and local non-governmental organisations to carry out relief activities in Indian Kashmir. The conference suggested that “enabling” the common Kashmiri will play a role in the peaceful settlement of the dispute.

Renowned Kashmir analyst Ershad Mehmood was of the view that Pakistan could salvage its faltering relations with the United States of America by improving its relations with India. For this, he urged the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government to make all efforts to settle its disputes with India, including Kashmir, via negotiations. He added that the uprising in Kashmir has left India with no option but to adopt a flexible stance over the issue.

“This is a great opportunity for Pakistan and India to adopt a supple attitude for the resolution of outstanding issues instead of trying to gain benefits from each other’s weaknesses,” he said.

The conference also noted the need for immediate steps for the development of regional languages, cultural heritage and home industries. It demanded that the government provide all basic facilities of life in areas close to the LoC, which were the targets of Indian shelling from 1990 to 2003.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2011.