'CPI(M) to put pressure on Centre to resolve Kashmir issue

Claiming that the Centre's Kashmir policy had been a "miserable failure", the CPI(M) today said it would take an initiative by talking to various stakeholders to put pressure on the government for starting a "political process" to resolve the issue.
Stating this here, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury also criticised JNU Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar's proposal that a battle tank be installed on the university campus to instill nationalism in the students and said nationalism did not stem from "symbols of war".
"We are of the opinion that the situation in Kashmir is assuming dangerous proportions. The alienation of the people of the Valley from the Indian administration seems to be near-complete. The Kashmir policy of the BJP has been a miserable failure," he told reporters.

Yechury claimed that the Centre was viewing the Kashmir situation only as a "law-and-order problem" and accused it of not implementing the confidence-building measures, which all the political parties had agreed to.
He also blamed the Centre for "not initiating" the process of holding a "political dialogue" with all the stakeholders in Kashmir.
On both these points, Yechury alleged that the Centre had betrayed the Kashmiri people.

"So, we will (now) take the initiative and talk to all other party leaders and social movements to once again put pressure on the government to initiate a political process," he added.
The CPI(M) leader also said it would be "disastrous" for the country's unity, if the Centre tried to "use the Kashmir issue to polarise the people in the rest of the country on communal lines".

Asked about the JNU vice-chancellor's proposal of installing a battle tank on the campus, he said, "Nationalism is not going to emerge from symbols of war. Nationalism is a sense of pride towards the nation. If someone attacks my country, I will fight. But, you cannot ask me to become a nationalist by showing me a gun or tank."
He ridiculed the proposal saying tomorrow there might be a demand to install an inter-continental missile on the campus and call it "ultra-nationalism".