Political discussions are a must for peace: Omar

UNDERLININGPOLITICALdiscussions as an inescapable phenomenon to deal with problem of militancy and addressing all issues for lasting peace, the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minster, Omar Abdullah laid thrust on political solutions of problems besetting Jammu and Kashmir.A pragmatic approach in this regard is need of the hour, he said and appreciated the Centre for recognizing the importance of dialogue process with all the stakeholders and appointing Interlocutors by the purpose.Addressing Chief Ministers Conference on internal security on Tuesday, the Chief Minister highlighted the peculiar security challenges confronting the State and emphasized on creation of basic infrastructure, skill upgradation and proper equipment for J&K Police Force.The Chief Minister sought additional financial assistance from the Centre in this regard to meet the expenditure for maintaining law and order and combating the security challenges, emanating more often than not from across the borders and having implications of much beyond the territorial boundaries of the State.The police force to population ratio in Jammu and Kashmir is probably the highest in the country for much greater responsibilities relating to maintenance of law and order, he said adding that State police has handled the law and order problem with high a degree of professionalism in close coordination with central security forces. Our Intelligence gathering capacities are being improved and police force fully equipped to effectively respond to the terror situations, he said.The Chief Minister said that internal security problems are mostly rooted in politics. As a matter of fact even armed insurgencies are essentially straggles for political space. It has been realized over a period of time that issues involving contrary positions can never be resolved through violent agitation and confrontation. This being the case, the most obvious approach would be to seek appropriate political ! solution s for political problems. A timely political solution to a problem would ensure that it does not balloon into a full fledged law and order or internal security situation, he said suggesting for focusing on the strategic aspects relating to internal security. This would enable both the Centre and the States to deal more effectively with internal security matters.Referring to the prolonged unrest in Kashmir Valley in 2010 summer, the Chief Minister said that while the intensity of the insurgency has declined in the State, the incidents of law and order problems particularly street violence have increased. He said the events of last summer had been most painful and sad as these resulted in the loss of innocent lives, enormous human and economic losses and irreparable disruption of the entire education system. He said that dealing with law and order situations in general and with the stone throwing at police in particular, requires a completely different approach on the part of police.