Srinagar, October 8
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister G.M. Shah has said the visit of Pak mediapersons to the state is a positive development and expressed hope that such developments will further pave the way for a solution to Kashmir problem.
Talking to mediapersons after his meeting with the journalists at his residence here this morning, Mr Shah said he was keen to hold an intra-Kashmir conference of all the political leaders, intellectuals and distinguished personalities to find a solution to the Kashmir problem. The intra-J&K conference in search of peace and solution has already been postponed twice in the past three years.
With this the three-day tour of these visiting journalists from Pakistan concluded today and they returned to New Delhi. During their three-day visit to the valley they led by SAFMA general secretary Imtiaz Alam, had a hectic schedule of meeting a cross section of the people here. They had meetings with the local mediapersons, teachers and students of the University of Kashmir and other mainstream and separatist leaders. These included the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, his daughter and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, Pradesh Congress Committee chief Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, opposition National Conference president Omar Abdullah.
The separatist leaders included leaders of the Abbas faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani of the APHC, JKLF leader Mohammad Yaseen Malik and the J&K High Court Bar Association.
The journalists also visited the martyrs’ graveyard at Idgah here today.
In his welcome address Mr Muzaffar
Shah G.M. Shah’s son, said their visit had “opened doors for a concrete and meaningful dialogue between the people on both sides of the LoC”.
Mr G M Shah has also written letters to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf with regard to the Kashmir problem, copies of which were released to the visiting mediapersons.
