Recognise the sentiment behind the protests in Kashmir and don't use military means to deal with the volatile situation.
That's Mirwaiz Umar Farooq's message to New Delhi.
The leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference's moderate faction said he was disappointed with the Centre's response to the violent protests of the past weeks.
CM Omar Abdullah has sought more paramilitary forces to restore order in the Valley.
"Forces and fire power are not the answer to protests in Kashmir," the Hurriyat chairman told HT on phone.
He appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "to speak up now, acknowledge the pain and agony of those killed".
He said that could make a difference and be the first step in ending the violence.
"His (the prime minister's) silence is not helping matters," Umar, who had held two rounds of talks with Singh in September 2005 and May 2006, said.
"Whatever good intentions he might have had in the past have gone waste." He added,
"Kashmiri sentiment has been ignored and it should not be ignored any more."
The separatist leader insisted that "this was a home-grown sentiment" and rejected the notion that "it had anything to do with Pakistan".
{{/usCountry}}The separatist leader insisted that "this was a home-grown sentiment" and rejected the notion that "it had anything to do with Pakistan".
{{/usCountry}}"Is there a single Pakistani among those killed or injured here?" he said.
"Attributions to Pakistan, terrorism, extremism, Islam further anger the people."
He said there was talk of peace but not a solution to the Kashmir issue.
"The peace cannot be in a vacuum," he said.
"At the moment the picture that is being presented before India is that Kashmiris were arsonists and they needed to be tackled with more force," he said.
"The people in India also feel the same way."
He said the separatists were against violence.
"We don't want public property to go up in flames," he said.
"But then there is a need to reach out to the people — not through the military but by stretching out a hand to them."