Mirwaiz urges India, Pakistan to stop bloodshed on LoC

Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday urged India and Pakistan to stop “senseless killings” on the Line of Control (LoC), saying that soldiers were becoming “cannon fodder” for hate.
Mirwaiz, while addressing a weekly congregation at the Jamia Masjid here, expressed concern and distress over the killing of civilians and soldiers in ceasefire violations along the LoC.
“Each day civilians, including children, on both sides of the LoC are getting killed and becoming the target of the unresolved Kashmir conflict, which is very sad and painful,” he said. “Soldiers also become cannon fodder of this hate as a consequence of the lingering Kashmir dispute,” he said.
The statement from one of the leading separatist leaders in Kashmir comes at a time when tension is rising along the LoC and civilians and soldiers have been killed in unabated ceasefire violations and retaliatory attacks.
Mirwaiz said the soldiers on either side of the LoC belong to the poor segment of society and join forces to make a living and support their poor families. “Their killing is equally sad,” he said.
Mirwaiz appealed to India and Pakistan to “let better sense prevail and put an end to the senseless killings”. “The only beneficiaries of this death and destruction are those who provide arms and ammunition for this mayhem,” he said.
He urged the two countries to “give up confrontation and come to the table” to resolve the Kashmir dispute “once for all”. “Put a permanent end to this madness and suffering that has consumed so many lives and is a source of the suffering of Kashmiris for the past 70 years,” he said.
Mirwaiz also appealed to Pandits to return to their roots and their “homeland Kashmir”. “People of Kashmir will welcome them with warmth and open arms … it makes all Kashmiris sad that they are away from their motherland and yearn to come back,” he said.