New Delhi, July 11: Members of the civil society mainly Journalists, Professors and lawyers based in Delhi have expressed concern over the deteriorating situation in Kashmir.
In a joint statement, the members, some of whom played a role in solving the Amarnath-related crisis two years back, termed the killing of civilians by police and CRPF as senseless.
They said deployment of army in many areas of the Valley was a shameful attempt to cover up the utter political failure of both the central and state governments.
“This is evident in both the Omar Abdullah government’s inability to handle the situation and the central government’s lack of ideas and initiatives,” the members opined.
The Prime Minister’s recent visit to the Valley, they said, only ‘underlined the visionless policy of protecting the status quo at any cost.’
“We urge the central government to send the army back to the barracks and out of all inhabited areas in the Valley, release all arrested political leaders, activists and protesters, repeal the AFPSA which has allowed the army to kill with impunity, and urgently start a dialogue with both the stakeholders in the Valley as well as with Pakistan to solve this vexed issue once and for all.” “We believe the situation in Kashmir demands a political, not a military, solution. We hope the UPA will not leave this issue burning for another generation to solve it.”
The members include Dr JK Jain, (Chairman, Jain TV), Syed Shahabuddin (President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat), Prem Shankar Jha (columnist), Prof. Ram Puniyani (All India Secular Forum), N.D. Pancholi (People’s Union of Civil Liberties), Manisha Sethi (Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association), Yugal Kishor Saran Shastri (Ayodhya), Prof. Nirmalangshu Mukherji (Delhi University), Dr. Shamsul Islam (Delhi University),
Neelima Sharma (Theatre Person), Zafar Mahmood (President, Interfaith Coalition), Kamal Faruqui (Ex-Chairman, Minorities Commission Delhi),
Navaid Hamid (Member, National Integration Council), Dr. M.H. Jawahirullah (President, Tamilnadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam), Lateef Mohammad Khan (Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee), Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan (Editor, The Milli Gazette).

Lastupdate on : Sun, 11 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT
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