Tarigami calls for de-escalation of tension between India, Pak

Senior CPI(M) leader and MLA Kulgam M Y Tarigami today called for de-escalation of tension between India and Pakistan at the borders and starting of a structured dialogue among all stakeholders to address Kashmir issue.
"The continued Indo-Pak border tension has resulted in killings and destruction as well as large scale displacement of population living near the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB). India and Pakistan leadership should respect the 2003-ceasefire agreement and stop sacrificing the innocent people on both sides for their narrow domestic political considerations," he told reporters here.
Tarigami said the political leadership of both the countries should come out of their "narrow cocoons" whether it is the elections in Uttar Pradesh or the fight between Imran Khan and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

"Your concerns should be at your own level. Don't put the future of lakhs of people at stake. It is in the interest of lasting peace in the region that a process of credible and structured dialogue must be initiated. Neither war hysteria nor jingoism can serve the interest of the region as a whole," he said.
He said de-escalating tensions and replacing rhetoric with a productive discourse was the need of the hour.
The CPI(M) leader also called upon the government to take immediate steps for rehabilitation of the victims of the cross-border firing.

Tarigami said the government should recognise the "political essence" of the ongoing unrest in Kashmir and explore all ways to initiate a "credible process" to resolve it without further delay.

He urged the state government to adopt a "humanitarian approach to stop indiscriminate crackdown and arrests".
The CPI(M) leader appealed the political leadership, including separatists, Bar Association, academicians, educationists, intellectuals and ulemas, to help in re-opening of schools.
"Some youth have been blinded (in the security forces' action) and no court can exonerate those who did that, but schools have been closed for many months now and it will be an injustice to keep our children blind to education because of the sins of the government. Some schools have been burnt. It is the future of our children that is being burnt. We as citizens have the responsibility to safeguard our schools," he added.