The Hindu : Pakistan MPs discuss Kashmir with Left parties

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 30, 2004

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Pakistan MPs discuss Kashmir with Left parties

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 29. A Parliamentary delegation from Pakistan led by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) president, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, today held a meeting with prominent Left party leaders and exchanged views on issues of bilateral interest.

The Kashmir issue was invariably the subject of discussion with the Left party leaders maintaining that the problem needed to be addressed taking into consideration the views of all sections of the people in Jammu and Kashmir and that it could not be solved through a democratic process in New Delhi alone.

Addressing the seven-member delegation from PPP, the CPI (M) Politburo member, Prakash Karat, said that even when relations between India and Pakistan had taken a downturn, the party had advocated the need to continue dialogue and allow people-to-people contacts.

The party's view on the importance of Article 370 of the Constitution, which bestows special status on J&K, was also reiterated.

He said the Kashmir problem should be addressed by India and by the people of the State. There was sufficient democratic pressure in the country to deal with the aspirations of the people there, he added.

Commenting on the situation in Pakistan, he said the CPI (M) was aware of the kind of system there and the struggle for democracy that was still going on.

Echoing similar views, the CPI national secretary, D. Raja, emphasised that the Kashmir problem should be resolved without any "third party mediation."

He said attempts to internationalise the situation would not be in the interest of either India or Pakistan.

The CPI (M) Jammu and Kashmir unit secretary, Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami, MLA, who organised a luncheon meeting with the delegation, said there was a need for political parties to take a leading role instead of leaving the issue to the ruling parties. He suggested that it was time to "step out of the rigid frame and make an honest attempt to restore peace" in the troubled State. Mr. Tarigami said the Kashmir problem should be seen in a broader perspective and it should be turned into a movement for peace instead of leaving it to those with "vested interests."

Earlier, Mr. Fahim said that improvement in ties between New Delhi and Islamabad was good. He emphasised the need to live in peace. People of both sides should have equal participation for the resolution of the Kashmir problem, he added.

The Pakistan delegation, visiting India at the invitation of Nirmala Deshpande, president of the Association of Peoples of Asia, includes Nafees A. Siddiqui, Mohammed Yousaf Talpur, Fozia Habib, Chaudhary Manzoor Ahmed, Senator Anwar Baig and the former Pakistan Foreign Minister, Sardar Asif Ahmed.

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