April 23, 2005 17:16 IST
Dr Ajay Chrangu, chairman, Panun Kashmir, an organisation representing Kashmiri Pandits, on Saturday warned that the ongoing India-Pakistan peace process could have dangerous consequences for India.
Over 700,000 Pandits, driven out of Kashmir by militants, live in refugee camps across the country.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Dr Chrangu alleged that there could be a secret understanding between the governments of India and Pakistan on Kashmir that is not being made public.
"I have reasons to suspect because Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said his government would not do anything that would smack of concessions. I think one should read between the lines and see what he means. They want to package the whole deal in such a manner that it does not look like they are wilting under pressure from Pakistan," he said.
He disputed the claim that starting the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service would unite the families across the Line of Control. "This is an exaggeration. And anyway, the number of such families is very small," he said.
He said that the Kashmiri Pandit community is opposed to the process of negotiations with Pakistan.
"We strongly disapprove the form and content of the peace process initiated by India and Pakistan. We are convinced that the so-called confidence building measures will be used by Pakistan to promote its partisan interests in Jammu and Kashmir. We call upon all the patriotic people in India to stand united to defeat any attempt which might lead to a second Partition of India," he claimed.
