The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Tuesday welcomed the “shift towards good neighborly relations” between India and Pakistan.
In a statement sent to The Kashmir Walla, the APHC said that the agreement by India and Pakistan to adhere to the ceasefire on the LoC and the subsequent statements and actions by them thereafter indicate a positive shift in the relations between the two neighbors.
“This is being observed with anticipation by the people of Jammu and Kashmir, who are deeply affected by the state of the relations between the two neighbors as they are for past seven decades striving for a resolution to the Kashmir conflict,” it added.
Welcoming the latest developments, the APHC also added that it sees the new shift as the first step in the direction of meaningful dialogue for the peaceful resolution of the Kashmir conflict. “But APHC also believes that unless on the ground in Kashmir an atmosphere free of fear, repression, and human rights violations is not permitted, efforts at good neighborly relations will not bear fruit.”
“For a change on the ground, all political prisoners and youth in jails and under house detention should be released. The random arrests and slapping of PSA on youth and policy of intimidation and harassment through agencies should be ended. Deaths and destruction during encounters which is deeply disturbing should be immediately stopped,” the statement added
The APHC also said it always was and is ready to extend full support to all initiatives between the two countries that aim at bringing peace and prosperity to all the people of the subcontinent and seek a fair and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
