Terming the recent statement of US representative in the UN, Nikki Haley, wherein she said that the US will play an active role in de-escalating tension and mediate in facilitating talks between India and Pakistan as positive the Hurriyat Conference (M) stated that the main cause of tension and animosity between the nuclear neighbors is the unresolved Kashmir dispute.The APHC stated over the past 70 years even as the two countries, India and Pakistan, held umpteen bilateral rounds of negotiations and signed many bilateral agreements to solve the Kashmir dispute, the reality is that the Kashmir dispute very much exists, as does the worsening situation of subjugation oppression and suffering of the people of Kashmir who are awaiting the fulfillment of their basic right to decide their political future. And as a consequence of the lingering dispute the clouds of war always loom large over the region and the neighbors remain at daggers drawn since their independence from colonial rule.
APHC said that if the US has shown its willingness to play a pro-active role to facilitate dialogue between the two neighbors, both India and Pakistan should respond positively and seek their assistance in building trust and improve their ties.This will in time pave the way for resolving the Kashmir dispute and bring the much needed relief to the people of suffering Kashmir and peace and stability to the subcontinent.APHC said that as India enjoys a good relationship with the US it should avail of this offer and shed its obduracy and policy of aggressiveness vis a vis the Kashmir dispute and accept the reality on ground.The spokesman denounced the house arrest of APHC Chairman Dr Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and arrest and house arrest of resistance leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Muhamamd Yaseen Malik, Mukhtar Ahmad Waza, Advocate Shahidul Islam and Hurriyat activists Farooq Ahmad Saudagar, Abdul Rashid Tanki and many others across the valley. He said the arrest and house arrest of resistance leadership and youth, however, was not going to weaken their resolve towards freedom struggle. (KNS)