Moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq today expressed hope that those who will be elected to Parliament after the Lok Sabha polls will "act in greater unison to move forward towards resolving the Kashmir issue".
"There is already a broad political consensus in Jammu and Kashmir and in Pakistan that the Kashmir issue must be amicably resolved... We hope that after the next elections, those who are elected to power and those who are in opposition will all act in greater unison to move forward towards resolving Kashmir," the Mirwaiz said.
He appealed to the people of the country to hold their elected representatives accountable for resolving the Kashmir issue, and said Hurriyat Conference was ready to contribute positively towards achieving this goal.
"Whoever you vote for and whoever ends up forming the next government or sitting in the opposition, you must hold them accountable on the Kashmir issue. You must convince your elected leaders that the time has come to develop a peace process on Kashmir...," the Mirwaiz said in "an open letter to the people of India".
"There must be a serious, result-oriented and time-bound process of dialogue between the leadership of India, Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir. Let this process start sooner rather than later. Over an intensive period of one year, let all of the parties engage actively with each other.
"Let each party seriously consider whether they can find partners to end this conflict once and for all. We must all try our best and exhaust the possibilities to seek a peaceful solution. Perhaps together we will be able to find some way to take a historic step forward towards a real peace process," he said.
