Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 26: As peaceniks assembled here today for a round table discussion to list their suggestions on the road ahead for trouble torn Jammu and Kashmir, there was a consensus for initiating multi-level dialogue between the stakeholders for permanent peace in the State.
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Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Mani Shanker Aiyer, strongly endorsed the suggestion that restoring terms and conditions as per the historic Instrument of Accession is mother of all Confidence Building Measures (CBMS) with regard to J&K.
He disclosed that such a recommendation was made by then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to the Cabinet Committee on Security but the same was rejected by the UPA Government. ” I hope that this report will be brought back for endorsement by the Congress study group on Kashmir,” he said and added that after returning back to pre-1953 condition, a debate by people of the State may be held on usefulness of the Constitutional amendments extended to the J&K.
Aiyer, who is said to be instrumental in track-two diplomacy on Kashmir, suggested that a two -level parallel dialogue, between New Delhi and J&K as well as India and Pakistan, should be initiated and taken to logical conclusion with sincerity. Stressing the need for preserving identity of each region and sub-region of the State, he opined that Article 35-A should not be scrapped or even touched.
Suggesting more people to people contact between India and Pakistan, Aiyer lamented that fate of earlier peace initiatives between the two neighbouring countries was like that of the game of snakes and ladders. “It is regretful that more than 150 crore people of both the countries have been made hostage by handful of terrorists, who manage to puncture the dialogue initiatives every time,” he said while referring to the Pathankot and Uri attacks.
Earlier, senior BJP leader Chander Mohan Sharma claimed that the fresh initiative taken by Modi Government for talks with all, will come to a logical conclusion and the stakeholders need to think in broader perspective.
Former MP Sheikh Abdul Rehman threw light on the origin of Kashmir conflict and suggested decentralization of power by forming Regional Council and Sub-Regional Council with elected representatives.
Prof Ellora Puri from Jammu University, emphasized that the national political parties need to understand the J&K issue in broader perspective and dialogue should be made to making emotional bonding and bridging gap.
Advocate Imtiaz Mir said that trespassing of the Maharaja’s modal of accession was the root cause of unrest in J&K and repairing this damage is mother of all CBMs.
Rahul stressed the need for dialogue within the regions and opined that there was danger in debating Article 35-A, which has harmed the interests of Balmiki community settled in J&K, local women married outside the State, Gorkha community here and others.
Others, who expressed their views in the round table discussion, included Anuradha Bhasin, Sajjad Hussain from Kargil, Sheikh Shakil Ahmad, Affaq Hussain, Jagmohan Raina, Abdul Rouf Lone, Kuldeep Pandita, Justice (Retd) B L Saraf, Advocate A V Gupta, Gopi Kishan, Com Sham Parsad Kesar, Imtiaz Mir, J A Kazmi, P K Khar, I D Khajuria and Khalid Bandey
Objective of this round table discussion was to create a climate of confidence and trust among the stakeholders, said O P Shah, Chairman of the Centre for Peace and Progress, in his concluding remarks.
His team will also visit Doda and Rajouri besides interacting with migrant Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu.
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