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Strengthening the state of Jammu & Kashmir – FNF supports a civil society dialogue

The state of Jammu & Kashmir in India has suffered some of the worst conflict in the world over the last twenty years. As a way to peacefully help the people of the state deal with the problems associated with the conflict, as well as issues of local governance, FNF supports the work of its partner, the Centre for Dialogue & Reconciliation in bringing together civil society participants from across the state.

There has been a renewed interest in a dialogue between India and Pakistan after the meeting of the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers on April 29. The Indian prime minister had also visited Srinagar on June 7 in which he renewed an offer to talk to all those who opposed violence.

Inter-regional dialogue conference in Srinagar

CDR had arranged the latest round of its inter-regional dialogue conferences to assess the state of situation in J&K and also propose any ideas that could help in moving the situation to normalcy. A group of approximately 50 civil society representatives, including academics, trade representatives, local journalists, members of NGOs and peace activists attended the meeting.

The meeting began on a solemn note. A young Kashmiri boy had died as a result of a tear gas canister injury to his head, and all the participants observed a two minute silence to commemorate his death. After that the dialogue conference discussed the current situation in J&K, socio-economic cooperation across the regions, strengthening civil society, and issues of concern, including governance and improving the climate for inter-regional cooperation. The death of a second Kashmiri youth who was shot during protests on the second day of the conference highlighted the importance of the issues being discussed.

In a consensus statement that was strongly debated on the last day of the conference the participants highlighted the importance of resolving the Kashmir issue peacefully. They also argued strongly for the implementation of progressive laws, such as the Juvenile Justice act, 1997, and the revocation of draconian measures such as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1956, currently in use in J&K.

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