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Wednesday, Dec 27, 2006
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Mufti's appeal to BJP

Staff Reporter

Says it must support peace process

JAMMU: A day after senior BJP leader L.K. Advani attacked the United Progressive Alliance government for its Kashmir policy, the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said the country's leadership, cutting across party lines, must fully support the ongoing Indo-Pak peace process instead of "playing politics with it for electoral gains."

In a statement issued here on Monday, Mr. Sayeed said: "As the main opposition, the BJP must stand behind the process, initiated by the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif in February 1999. In fact, the present peace process got the much-needed fillip when Mr. Vajpayee extended the hand of friendship to Pakistan from Srinagar in April 2003." The mufti added that the subsequent positive response "it evoked among the people and the establishment on both sides gave the process the legitimacy and strength to move forward.

During the NDA regime, the process gained substantial ground within the Congress party and the State Government fully supported all the major initiatives and confidence building moves. "Now when the peace process has reached a crucial stage, similar positive response is expected from the BJP to any move by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, aimed at continuing and consolidating the process,'' he said.

Mr. Sayeed further said both Mr. Vajpayee and Dr. Singh had pursued the peace process with sincerity of purpose and highest levels of statesmanship.

Making a strong plea against exploiting the Kashmir issue for electoral gains, he said this "human tragedy" had cast a shadow on the region's destiny for over five decades and the time has come to replace the pain with prosperity.

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