NC expresses concern over escalation of Indo-Pak tension

Expressing concern over the escalation of tension and hostility between India and Pakistan, the National Conference (NC) today criticised New Delhi for its Kashmir policy, saying security measures cannot be alternatives to a political initiative.
While NC joins the people of the State in expressing serious concern over the escalation of tension and hostility between India and Pakistan and the ramifications of this situation on peace and stability in the region, we are equally concerned about the absence of any meaningful political initiative from New Delhi to deal with the political situation in J-K, top party leaders said in a joint statement here.

NC president Farooq Abdullah and working president Omar Abdullah issued the joint statement a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's address at UNGA.
New Delhi s refusal to take concrete and visible steps to address the internal dimensions of the political issue in J-K, even within the often articulated framework of the Constitution of India has become a diplomatic weakness that is exploited time and again at various international fora, it claimed.
Lack of a structured and sustained bilateral engagement between New Delhi and Islamabad over the last few years has also created a gaping political vacuum that threatens peace and stability in the region, the two leaders said in the joint statement.

They said it was unfortunate that despite the alarming situation in the state and the horrifying human costs of the current unrest, New Delhi continues to look at the political situation in J-K through a security prism .

Recent indications of New Delhi taking steps to increase military presence and re-establish military camps and bunkers in Kashmir have augmented the sense of disaffection and skepticism in the State.
These security measures cannot be alternatives to a political initiative, they said.
The father-son duo said the current policy of dealing with the unrest in the state operationally is a reiteration of the tried, tested and failed formulations of dealing with an inherently political issue through military and administrative means.

Mass arrests and widespread curbs in the State will only deepen the sense of alienation among the youth and take us further away from the goal of peace and reconciliation, they said, expressing hope that New Delhi acknowledges the unaffordable costs of ignoring the political issue in J-K are primarily to be borne by the people of the State.
The NC leaders said multiple visits by the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh as well as the visit by the Parliamentary All Parties delegation has yielded no result and failed to create a conducive atmosphere for the initiation of a sustainable and meaningful political process.