Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 7: Centre for Policy Analysis has suggested the Union Government to extend cease-fire in Jammu and Kashmir indefinitely and continue to make efforts to bring peace to the beleaguered State.
In a statement issued after discussing current situation with the representatives from the State, the Centre for Policy Analysis said, “we note with increasing distress and despair the escalating tide of violence in Jammu and Kashmir over the last two years. The intensification of violence has led to serious injuries, harm and grave losses of life of citizens as well as those of the security forces”.
“Incidents of grave violence have heightened cross-border tensions. They have alarmingly militarized the political atmosphere in the rest of the country. We welcome the cease-fire announced by the Government of India during the holy month of Ramzan and appeal for extension of cease-fire indefinitely”, the Centre for Policy Analysis said.
The Centre has hoped that the Union Government will seriously address and redress the grievances of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. “We urge it to resolve the problem in accordance with the tenets of the Constitution of India. This is the obligation that democracy places upon people who occupy positions of power. History will not forgive them if they default on this obligation to the people of the country”, the statement said.
Condemning the use of violence by armed militants and sometimes by some sections of society in Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre for Policy Analysis said, “we recognize their frustration but still hold that they should know that the route taken by violence is unpredictable and dangerous”.
“We also owe justice to the Kashmiri Pandits, who were hounded out of their homes and hearths by armed militants in 1989 and 1990. We urge the State Government to encourage their return and welcome them back to their ancestral land”, the Centre said, adding “this is the time to think of the Kashmir issue in terms of democracy, rights and justice that is owed to all citizens”.
“It is time we restructure our democratic political community that has been torn by the politics of hate. It is time that we citizens give each other a chance to become full members of our democratic life. To be outside the pale of democracy is to be doomed to live in a twilight zone. This is not something we wish upon anyone, least of all our own people”, reads the statement.
The signatories to the statement are Anil Chamadia, Annie Raja, Amit Sengupta, Anuradha Chenoy, A S Dulat, Avinash Mohananey, Gauhar Raza, Ganesh Devy, H K Dua, Harsh Mander, Jawed Naqvi, John Dayal, Kamal Mitra Chenoy, Kapil Kak, Kamal Morarka, K Satchidanandan, Madhu Bha-duri, Manoj Kumar Jha, Meera Khanna, Mohammed Salim, Mohini Giri, Nayantara Sehgal, Neera Chandhoke, Nuzhat Kazmi, Pamela Philipose, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Prabir Purkayastha, Prashant Bhushan, Rajeev Dhavan, Rita Manchanda, S P Shukla, Satish Jacob, Shastri Ramachandaran, Seema Mustafa, Subhashini Ali, Suneeta Dhar, Sehba Farooqui, Sukumar Muralidharan, Shabnam Hashmi, Tehmina Arora, Wajahat Habibullah, Vineet Tiwari, Yashwant Sinha, Zafar Agha and Zoya Hasan.
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