Jammu, June 3
The PDP leader and a former Chief Minister, Mufti Sayeed, today urged the militants to shun violence and not disturb tourism which is the backbone of the state's economy.

The Mufti, who was talking to this correspondent here, said those connected with tourism in the valley were expecting a bumper tourist season this time. The people were yearning for peace so that the economic activity was put back on rails.

He urged the militants to declare a ceasefire and play a positive role for the objective of long-lasting peace in the state.

The Mufti said that the series of confidence building measures (CBMs) initiated by India and Pakistan to restore peace in Jammu and Kashmir have started yielding positive results and the tension on the borders has eased.

Residents of the villages on the border and the Line of Control (LoC) were in a position to undertake the normal activities without the fear of being hit by the enemy bullet.

He hoped that the reopening of the Poonch-Rawlakot road on June 19 to link the divided Kashmir would generate economic activity in the area. He stressed the need for reopening the Jammu-Sialkot road which was of great economic importance.

The Mufti said that all the mainstream parties should contribute towards restoration of peace in Jammu and Kashmir.

He, however, wondered why the BJP boycotted the recent roundtable conference of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Srinagar, whereas the party leaders traveled all the way to Islamabad recently to participate in a meeting that was convened by General Pervez Musharraf.

He said the peace process was initiated by the BJP-led NDA government when the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee took several CBMs. But the BJP in the state was playing the opposite role. The Mufti said that the opportunity for restoring peace in Kashmir cannot be allowed to go waste.

He urged the people to further strengthen the process of dialogue and reconciliation built out of strenuous efforts of last three years and not allow any isolated incident to harm the prospects of peace process for which the people of the state are yearning for the last 16 years.

The Mufti said that a window of opportunity had been provided to all of us to achieve the goal of long-lasting peace in the state.

Terming the PDP-Congress alliance as value based, the Mufti thanked the Congress leadership for the continued support to his policies and programme. 

Srinagar, June 3
Arrangements being made for the forthcoming Amarnath Yatra were reviewed at a meeting of civil, police and security forces officials at Pahalgam in Anantnag district yesterday.

The annual yatra begins simultaneously via Pahalgam and Baltal routes on June 11.

The meeting, attended by District Development Commissioner, Anantnag, and GOC 15 Crops Lieut-Gen S.S. Dhillion, was told that the track from Chandanwari to the holy cave had been cleared. Five hundred manual labour had been deployed to clear the track of snow at certain areas.

Assurance was also given on providing tent, medicare, electricity, drinking water and other facilities to the pilgrims at various camps.

Besides providing PCOs at different places, mobile service would also be made available to the pilgrims.

Also, 4,600 LPG cylinders would be made available.

The District Development Commissioner asked the officers to complete all arrangements by June 8.