Srinagar, Mar 27: Hundreds of youth from Kashmir Sunday pitched for a peaceful resolution of the long-standing Kashmir dispute, asserting that the aspirations of the people of Kashmir must be kept in mind while resolving the issue.
“The issue of Kashmir must be resolved peacefully, with due regard to the aspirations of the people of Kashmir,” the youth, at least 700, have resolved after discussing the issue of human rights in Kashmir, during a week-long Summit at the SK International Convention Centre on the banks of Dal Lake here.
The “One Young Kashmir” Leadership Summit was organized by Mercy Corps, an international non-governmental organization “to provide a platform to the Valley youth to express themselves candidly.”
The youth also resolved that the dialogue process between India, Pakistan and Kashmir should resume and all parties should be taken on board.
Describing human rights violations in Kashmir as a serious problem, the youth—students, young entrepreneurs and professionals from other fields—called for revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Public Safety Act and the Disturbed Areas Act. “The zero tolerance to human rights violations must be implemented on ground in letter and spirit and the human rights need to be protected to let people live a peaceful life,” read a resolution. “The trust-deficit between the state government and the people must end and there must be more awareness about the basic human rights especially in the light of international conventions and resolutions.”
The youth also demanded that the juvenile justice system in Kashmir should be strengthened and the youth detained since the last summer’s unrest be released forthwith. “There is also the need to put an end to crackdowns on the youth,” they demanded.
The youth urged their counterparts to be a part of the “political, social and economic activities” in the state. “There must be complete accountability in the systems of governance in Jammu and Kashmir and total elimination of corruption from the state,” the youth demanded.
In the backdrop of alleged plundering of resources in the Valley, the youth pitched for a strong mechanism to identify and utilize the resources in a sustainable manner.
Another resolution sought introduction of Kashmir history in the curricula in the schools and colleges in Kashmir. “It is also time to strengthen the special status granted to the state. Also the freedom of speech and expression must not be strangulated. We must also see to it that the freedom of press is not curtailed,” the resolution read.
The youth also called for more private initiatives to tackle the problem of unemployment in Jammu and Kashmir. “We must shun the attitude of running after government jobs alone. There is a huge private sector which can be explored,” they said.
The youth urged people to strength Kashmiri language, which they said, was facing extinction threat due to globalization. .
Later Kashmir’s rapper Roushan Illahi aka MC Kash performed at the summit, which ended today.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 27 Mar 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 27 Mar 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:00:00 IST