Kashmir issue needs to be addressed politically: Omar

Jammu, Mar 7 (PTI) The Kashmir issue is political and
hence it should be addressed politically through a process of
dialogue between the separatists and the Indian government and
involving the state government, the Chief Minister of India's
frontier state of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, has said.

"The Kashmir issue is a political one. It needs to be
addressed in a political manner. In this direction, the role
of the state government is to engage separatists and
facilitate dialogue between them and the Centre so that a
consensus can be arrived at," an official statement said here
Saturday quoting a media interview given by the chief
minister.

"We are not setting boundaries. They can talk and
advocate any solution. It is up to the government of India to
accept it or not. We should not pre-suppose what they will
talk or not," Abdullah said.

Kashmir is not an administrative issue or matter of good
governance, he said. "Even as issues of power, road and water
remain of prime concern to the people, the lasting solution to
the problem lies in tackling its political dimensions by
taking along all stakeholders so that peace returns to the
region permanently.

The state government is the first point-of-contact and so
long as the Centre keeps it involved in the dialogue process,
it will move forward with consistency, he said, adding lack of
such consistency hampers progress.

"Without bypassing the state government, the dialogue
should be carried forward constantly. We have nothing to lose
if they (separatists) join the mainstream," Abdullah said.

The chief minister said that the autonomy proposal
floated by the National Conference (NC) was approved by the
Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly and no proposal has
replaced it yet.

"We have also brought it into the deliberations of the
5th working group. We do not suggest that it is the only
solution, but it is the ideal one," he said.

Regarding Indo-Pak ties, the chief minister said the
relations between the two neighbours have a direct impact on
Jammu and Kashmir and hoped it would improve.

He said incidents like the Mumbai terror attacks
definitely cast a shadow on their relations but added that the
silver lining in the dark cloud is that the 26/11 outrage has
not created a situation of one step forward and two steps
backward.

"Pakistan should take firm steps to tackle the situation.
We see today that sportsmen do not visit Pakistan. Tomorrow
businessmen will not go there and if they do not take the
right steps, the situation will deteriorate further," he said.

"If you ride a wild tiger, it will devour you some day",
Abdullah said. PTI AB
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