Kashmir an integral part of India, say Deoband clerics - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Upholding India's stand on Jammu and Kashmir, several Ulemas and intellectuals in Deoband have declared the State as an integral part of the country and urged the government to start dialogue process to restore peace in the State. Addressing a convention of Jamiat-e-Ulma-e-Hind (JUH) here on Sunday, Islamic scholar Abdul Rahim Bastawi said: "India is like a bouquet of different types of flowers. We just cannot think of allowing any one of the flowers to be separated." "Kashmir issue could not be addressed without taking the Indian Muslims on board," said Jamiat leader Mahmood Madani. An 11-point resolution was also passed in the convention that demanded to start dialogue and to accept the demands of Kashmiris in the framework of Indian Constitution. "The long-pending legitimate demands of people must be accepted within the framework of the Constitution of India and democratic civilian rights and institutions should be allowed to function freely," the resolution said. The resolution said that the cases of human right violation should be thoroughly investigated. It also said the armed forces must be withdrawn and the barricades lifted from civilian areas in Kashmir. It also emphasized that an independent, impartial and transparent commission of enquiry should be constituted to look into serious violations of human rights. "The protesters and agitators nabbed without viable reason be freed forthwith while the lethal methods of crowd control must be avoided and the humane and modern techniques and equipments should be adopted while dealing with protesters," the resolution added. The resolution also said the use of power to repress the anguish of citizen would not help. It will instead complicate the problem further and shall fuel separatist mindset. Sponsored by Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, the assembly was convened essentially to discuss Kashmir issue. Apart from clerics drawn from different parts of Uttar Pradesh, the participants at the meet also included those from Uttarakhand, Bihar, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.