US think tank calls for peaceful Kashmir solution

The Center for Dialogue and Peace in the United States has asked India to listen to the saner voices of the Kashmir movement to bring peace to its people. Raja Muzaffar, who is currently heading the Kashmir Committee at the Peace Center, said yesterday in Jeddah that the world has enormously changed and that there is no longer any room for lingering on an issue that has been festering for decades, and which has consumed thousands of lives.
The center is a Dallas-based think tank to promote peace in the world and has a specific committee for peace in the Middle East, besides focusing on the Kashmir issue.
Formerly vice chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) that had armed itself to liberate the region, Raja Muzaffar has since eschewed violence to take the path of peace to solve the issue. JKLF, now under the charge of Yasin Malik, has also turned into an organization that focuses on peaceful political movement.
Muzaffar is currently vising the Kingdom to perform the Umrah pilgrimage.
Speaking at a gathering, Muzaffar praised Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for the international role that he plays for the cause of peace on earth.
The man from Kashmir, who for decades went through the thick and thin of the liberation movement, has a “de rigueur” standpoint on the issue, which is when it comes to solve the problem of Kashmir by peaceful means.
It is therefore no coincidence that he mentioned the role King Abdullah might play with regards to the issue of Kashmir.
“Saudi Arabia has its own role to play in the region. It is a regional power. It has played an important role toward solving Middle East peace issues, and more importantly, he enjoys good relations with both India and Pakistan.”
Muzaffar, who is also director of the US-based South Asia Democracy Watch, said the Indian government doesn't want world mediation. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has a contact group on Kashmir to facilitate a peaceful path to finally solve the matter. Saudi Arabia, he said, can play an important role through this contact group.
“Until Kashmir is brought to the plank of peace, extremist forces will always find room for pleas to engage in means of death and destruction, killing more people and luring more youth to terrorism,” he said.