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The Hurriyat Conference on Monday asked Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to take a 'new initiative' and apply marham (balm) to the 'wounds' of the Kashmiris, even as it stressed the need for 'flexibility' on the part of all the three parties to the dispute to ensure a 'consensual' solution.
Welcoming Vajpayee's proposed visit to the valley, senior Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq said it would be 'an opportunity for the prime minister to understand the problems at the ground level'.
He said Vajpayee should take 'a new initiative' and 'not dictate terms'.
"So far, the Centre has practised only oppression and suppression with regard to Kashmir giving wounds to its populace," the former Hurriyat chairman said, adding it was time to apply 'marham'.
Stating that the Kashmir issue was 'not a territorial dispute' but a 'political and human' issue, Farooq said, "Pakistan has to be taken into confidence for a lasting solution."
There could be 'no win-win situation' for any of the three parties - India, Pakistan and Kashmiris - as the matter was 'very complex', he said.
"There is a need for flexibility on the part of all the three parties to allow a consensual solution to the dispute," he said.
He emphasised that the US and other countries could not 'solve' the Kashmir issue 'for us' although they might lend a helping hand.
While the world was becoming a 'global village' with countries getting closer to each other, 'in South Asia, divisions are growing', the Hurriyat leader said.
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