Fatehpuri Shahi Imam back's Delhi Imam, urges for dialogue with Pak

Shahi Imam of Shahi Masjid Fatehpuri Mufti Mukarram Ahmad on Saturday said Kashmir is India's internal problem and dialogues must be held with Pakistan to find a permanent solution to the ongoing strife in the Valley.

Shahai Imam Ahmad's remarks came hours after Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, wrote a letter to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, urging him to to resolve the unrest in the Kashmir Valley.

"Kashmir is India's internal problem. We have always advocated for peace in Kashmir and talks should be initiated with them who are creating disturbances. If Pakistan is anyhow being involved, then it is right to talk with them; if it is not, then there is no point in talking with them," Mukarram Ahmad told ANI.

The Shahi Imam of Fatehpuri Masjid said the government's top priority should be to resolve conflict in the Valley.

"India and Pakistan should hold dialogue to resolve the Kashmir dispute. We want peace and no outside person should be involved in India's integral matter," he added.

The Imam of Jama Masjid, in his letter, appealed to all stakeholders - the governments of India and Pakistan, Kashmiri leaders and militant youth - to declare ceasefire and resolve the issue through a dialogue.

In the June 22 letter, Bukhari stated that the peaceful valley has now become a valley of tears, which was once known as the paradise on earth.

"The Kashmir situation is becoming volatile day by day, resulting in an increase in tensions between the two countries (India and Pakistan) as days pass. I think that more delay in the creation of a favourable environment for peace shall make the settlement of the Kashmir issue more difficult," Bukhari said in his letter to Sharif.

"Therefore, with all the intellect, wisdom and prudence at our disposal, we must make every effort to safe Kashmir from the dangerous destruction and devastation it faces and pave the way for the establishment of peace there. The common people of Kashmir are in a state of terror and helplessness as they find their dreams for peace shattered," he added.

He warned and cautioned that the Kashmir issue can neither be solved through guns and stones nor through military expeditions.

"We should create an environment conducive for the talks at the earliest. Through exchange of views and dialogue on the larger issues, we all should formulate a strategy that is in the interest of both nations," he said.