The social and secular fabric of Kashmir and the rest of country has been damaged by politics of hate, an NGO led by former Union Minister Salman Khurshid said today.
Reacting to Home Minister Rajnath Singh's remarks that the Kashmir issue would be resolved on the basis of 5 Cs - compassion, communication, co-existence, confidence building and composite culture -- the NGO, Lehar, said in a statement that words needed to be translated into action.
Khurshid with other members of the NGO said in the statement that the gravity of the problem demanded the immediate translation of words into action.
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"Attractive phrases have been invoked by the leadership of the present dispensation, but they never translated it on ground," said Lehar, whose members include former former chief of Research and Analysis Wing A S Dulat, activist Swami Agnivesh and spiritual leader Acharya Pramod Krishan.
The group, which works with the people of Kashmir on issues such as peace, said the political dispensation failed to realise that the problems in Kashmir were "essentially humanitarian and not territorial".
"It is time to translate the phraseology of 'na goli se na gaali se, balki har Kashmiri ko galey laganey se' and of the 5 Cs into action at ground level. We have to work together to make Kashmir heaven again," it said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in his Independence Day speech last month that Kashmir's problems could be solved by embracing the people of Kashmir, not with 'goli' (bullets) or 'gaali' (abuse).
"The politics of hate and division has damaged the social and secular fabric in Kashmir and the rest of the country," the statement said, adding that Lehar extended full support to all endeavours aimed at bringing lasting peace to the region.
The group welcomed the Home Minister's statement on Article 35A of the Constitution, wherein the minister said the government would do nothing that hurt the sentiment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The Article bars people from outside Jammu and Kashmir to acquire immovable property in the state.
The group said the minister's statement would help restore the confidence of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The group emphasised that all steps should be taken to promote regional and religious harmony among the people of the three regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
Lehar said it is hopeful about a delegation to Kashmir headed by Dr Mammohan Singh.
The visit by the Singh-led delegation would help in understanding the causes of the current phase of crisis in Kashmir, it said.
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