Taking the high road to the heart

The fruitful talks between India and Pakistan have created a good atmosphere in Jammu and Kashmir. My own district, Kupwara, was a frontline region for the entry of militants during the initial stages of the insurgency, and our people have suffered many losses of life and property. Now that a peace process has started and the shelling has stopped along the LoC, we are beginning to breathe easier. Recently, some of the people from our district took the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus, and the fact they were able to do so has created confidence. In time we hope that the Teetwal (Karnah)-old Muzaffarabad road will also be reopened.

I believe that the recent confidence-building measures have affected militancy also, it is beginning to decrease. The more people to people contact and CBMs there are, the less room there will be for terrorist attacks.
• MADAD KHAN, Kupwara-Uri
The writer is a retired SSP, from district Kupwara-Uri

Civil society must rekindle Kashmiriyat

The success of the Delhi summit was indeed a pleasant surprise. With the winds of change blowing, it is important for civil society to realize its power in a democratic setup and rise to the occasion. Laying behind their individual or ethnic differences, singular or community pain, civil society need to move forward with a positive mind-set so that they will be able to rekindle the flame of Kashmiriyat.
• INDU KILAM, Anantnag/Jammu
The writer is secretary-general, Sabzaar, and a migrant from Anantnag who hopes to return to the Valley

Great Expectations

Rolling the bus along the LOC is not a small thing to happen. I rate it as the second biggest achievement of India-Pakistan relations after the cease-fire of 2003, when the guns fell silent across the LOC. Pushing forward the peace process should now become irreversible, and the next step should be to make a space for the Kashmiri people in the dialogue process. Both the Indian and Pakistani governments should ask for practical participation of representatives from all political, regional and ethnic groups to make it a fruitful exercise.

There have been some healthy developments over the last couple of years – the cease-fire, goodwill missions including exchange visits of the media, a change in the political setup, a chief minister who genuinely advocates the case of dialogue with separatists. This surely passes on a message of seriousness and urgency towards the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

In the past, the failure of talks was due to a tough stand taken by the respective parties because of the lack of communication at the grassroots level. Now that people on both sides of the LoC have the opportunity to make it clear that they stand for a peaceful resolution of all outstanding disputes including Kashmir, the two governments are bound to climb down and make concessions to each other.
• IMTIAZ MIR,DodaThe writer is an advocate practicing in Doda

A bygone hope rejuvenates

The landmark joint declaration by Dr. Manmohan Singh and General Pervez Musharraf in Delhi on April 18, 2005 will go a long way in cementing the bonds of peace and amity on both sides of the border of J&K State. The two leaders have displayed undaunted courage and demonstrated acumen to win the hearts and minds of the people, an indispensable requirement of any Government. Their determination of opening the Poonch-Rawalakote road will help promote people to people contact after a long and painful segregation and will also help end an era of agony, hatred and enmity. In Poonch city, we accorded a civic welcome to the five persons from POK who traveled to this part of the State on the first bus.The visitors included a doctor, a retired bureaucrat, an advocate, a retired Section Officer and an octogenarian.

They were presented a saropa at Dera Nangali Sahib on April 13, 2005 by Mahant Manjeet Singhji.The visitors thanked the people for their heroic greetings and said that they were taking along with them a deep feeling of gratitude, good will, love and communal amity. They said that their long awaited dream of meeting the people of their place of birth has, at last, come true.
• KK KAPOOR,Poonch
The writer is a retired district education officer, Poonch

The bus of love

The Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus did not only bind the hearts of divided families, it gave a ray of hope to the people of Kashmir who left the valley in 1990 en masse due to the turmoil (especially Kashmiri Pandits). But this strategy needs to be broadened to include other routes, such as Poonch-Rawlakote and Kargil-Skardu. The leaders of India and Pakistan could also consider how to involve the people of Jammu and Kashmir, so that all factions, political and non-political, can be involved in the dialogue process.
• MOTILAL BHAT, Srinagar
The writer is a social activist who works with Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley

Concluded

These accounts were collected by the Delhi Policy Group, the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation and Forum for Regional Voices

PART I