Vajpayee as symbol of hope

People in general have been closely watching the last journey of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and all the political leadership including separatists have paid rich tributes to him for being the first and the only Prime Minister of India to understand the pain and sufferings of Kashmiris and also tried hard to find some way out as a solution. Kashmir has been witnessing a dark era and there has been no hope for the people to have peaceful lives. In such atmosphere it was only Vajpayee who instilled hope in the hearts and minds of people of Kashmir and made them to have faith that someday there would be light at the end of dark tunnel.

Among the people of Kashmir his sincerity to settle the issues with Pakistan and also to solve the Kashmir problem has made him the most respected Prime Minister here. He was the only hope for settlement for the people of Kashmir and will remain the symbol of hope for us. Even Prime Minister Narindra Modi only repeated from Red Fort the three magic words of Vajpayee to settle the Kashmir dispute. On the street of Srinagar people have felt the departure of Vajpayee and most of them were of the view that both India and Pakistan can only pick-up the threads from the Vajpayee years to settle the Kashmir dispute.

As the new government has taken over in Pakistan, the hope has started brewing on both sides and it has added to the hopes of people of Kashmir that there would be a dialogue between India and Pakistan sooner and better. People on the streets of Kashmir are closely watching the developments on both sides of the border. The letter written by Prime Minister Narindra Modi to Imran Khan for the constructive dialogue between the two neighbouring countries has renewed the hopes in the hearts of people in Kashmir Valley that there would be peace after such a long spell of violence and bloodshed.