Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Prof. Saifuddin Soz on Saturday asked Government of India to initiate an unconditional dialogue with the separatist leadership in Kashmir.“I want to express my feeling that even at this critical juncture of Kashmir’s history, there is a chance, perhaps the last, for the Union Govt. to approach the Hurriyat Conference for a political dialogue. It is in years that Hurriyat has evolved, somewhat, into togetherness in its ranks and discernibly Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s word matters with Hurriyat’s Constituents!,” said Soz in a statement issued to KNS.“This situation itself constitutes a rare opportunity for the Union of India to open a credible and unconditional dialogue with the Hurriyat. It is for the Hurriyat to include certain youngsters in the proposed dialogue.”He said it would certainly be a chance to the Union Govt. to prove its existence in Kashmir which, otherwise, is visible through the ‘Forces pitted directly against the people of Kashmir’.
Union of India must realize that the incarceration of the Hurriyat-Leadership is not going to yield any positive results. In fact the Hurriyat should be provided space to appeal and persuade youngsters to end anarchy, said Soz.“I dare make this suggestion in spite of the fact that, otherwise, the present Central Govt.’s record of service to the “People of Kashmir” is unprecedentedly and abysmally, extremely poor!“The present circumstances in Kashmir are so critical that if a gesture is made to the Hurriyat, the general run of the civil society will persuade it to concede the need, for the cause of the suffering People of Kashmir could be served that way only!“Any other course of action will be suicidal for the Union of India which has already lost precious time in procrastination in recognizing the ‘Reality in Kashmir.” (KNS)