The Central interlocutors for Kashmir on Saturday said 'any outbreak of violence in the Valley would thwart the efforts for political settlement in the state.
Addressing mediapersons in Srinagar at the conclusion of their four-day long Valley visit, the interlocutors Dileep Padgaonkar, Radha Kumar and M M Ansari said, "The political settlement had to be found only through a sustained and inclusive process of dialogue with all the stake holders, including the separatist outfits and the civil society organisations."
"Any outbreak of violence would thwart the process," Padgaonkar said.
"No single political formation of the mainstream or otherwise could claim the exclusive prerogative to speak for the people of the Valley, let alone for the people of the state as a whole," he said.
"This is all the more significant given the diverse political aspirations of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and of various communities within each of these regions," Padgaonkar said.
"The stake holders, therefore, need to move away from rigid positions and act in concert to focus tightly on four issues of critical importance for the future," they added.
"These include the need to preserve the unity and integrity of the state, assert the state's special status in the Indian Union, seek the most practical and effective way to respond to the diverse political, economic, social and cultural urges of the people, the mainstream political parties in every region would be required to evolve a consensus on a political settlement and then seek a similar consensus with other regions of the state," they said.
He also said that the president of the Democratic Freedom Party and senior separatist leader Shabir Shah had responded to their invitation in a letter wherein he has reiterated his well-known position that such talks would be 'relevant and significant' when 'draconian laws are repealed, political prisoners and youth are released from jails, withdrawal of troops begins and persons involved in human rights violation are brought to book'.
