Termination of the special status for Jammu and Kashmir and the bifurcation of the territory has put the people of the region under great political stress and opened chances of international intervention, declared a civil society meeting on Kashmir held here on Saturday.
“Fifty-five days since the siege began, especially in Kashmir valley but also in Jammu, repressive measures are still in place. Violation of human rights are naturally routine in an atmosphere of communications and media lock-down. The people too have begun to protest by withholding their participation in normal everyday life,” said a statement issued by the Centre for Peace and Progress (CPP) at the end of the discussion that was chaired by chairman of CPP, O.P. Shah.
Addressing the gathering, former chief of Research and Analysis Wing A.S. Dulat said that he is sceptical about the chances of normalcy returning to the Kashmir Valley. “I am not as hopeful as some of you here. Whatever has happened was not good. There is a silence on the ground in Kashmir and that is disturbing,” said Mr. Dulat, referring to the end of the special status for the region.
The meeting was addressed by Kashmir University’s Muslim Jahn Fazili, lawyers Wani Yasmeen and Rahella Khan, senior journalist Anand K. Sahay and former interlocutor for the Government of India M.M. Ansari. Addressing the gathering, Mr. Ansari said that suspension of communication for a prolonged period has triggered mass-scale psychological disturbances among the people in the Valley.
“Kashmir is a political issue. If handled only through the security framework it will deepen problems and not lead to a peaceful solution,” said the collective statement from the organisers of the meeting who urged for an immediate end to the communication lock-down of the Kashmir Valley.
