<p>The fact that the team has been talking so frankly about the Kashmir dispute appears to signal their seriousness to crack the 63-year-old ice on Jammu and Kashmir, many here feel.<br /><br />The interlocutors - Dilip Padgaonkar, Radha Kumar and M.M. Ansari - arrived here Saturday. They have been interacting with people, visiting jails, calling on politicians and have also prayed for success of their mission at the holy Muslim shrine of Hazratbal.<br /><br />Journalist Padgaonkar, who has been doing most of the talking for the trio, has already raised the pitch for a political discourse by referring to Kashmir as "a dispute" and not using the usual guarded vocabulary of "issue" or "problem".<br /><br />"This is not only a departure from the usual references made by the central government and national level politicians but also marks a step forward to somewhere meet the hardline separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, midway," Riyaz Masroor, a senior journalist, told IANS.<br /><br />Masroor said Padgaonkar's assertion that Pakistan had to be on board for a permanent solution indicated that the interlocutors had accepted the "international dimension" of the problem.<br /><br />Geelani has put forth five points for a dialogue process in Jammu and Kashmir to begin, and his first and foremost assertion has been that India should accept Kashmir as an international dispute.<br /><br />Home Minister P. Chidambaram said there were "no red lines" to the interlocutors’ mission.<br /><br />“It is time to finally accept the fact that Kashmir is a dispute that must be resolved without losing further time," said Professor Muzaffar Ahmad, a college teacher.<br />“If this mission of interlocutors fails, then the hope of peace in Kashmir could be lost forever,” he said.</p>
<p>The fact that the team has been talking so frankly about the Kashmir dispute appears to signal their seriousness to crack the 63-year-old ice on Jammu and Kashmir, many here feel.<br /><br />The interlocutors - Dilip Padgaonkar, Radha Kumar and M.M. Ansari - arrived here Saturday. They have been interacting with people, visiting jails, calling on politicians and have also prayed for success of their mission at the holy Muslim shrine of Hazratbal.<br /><br />Journalist Padgaonkar, who has been doing most of the talking for the trio, has already raised the pitch for a political discourse by referring to Kashmir as "a dispute" and not using the usual guarded vocabulary of "issue" or "problem".<br /><br />"This is not only a departure from the usual references made by the central government and national level politicians but also marks a step forward to somewhere meet the hardline separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, midway," Riyaz Masroor, a senior journalist, told IANS.<br /><br />Masroor said Padgaonkar's assertion that Pakistan had to be on board for a permanent solution indicated that the interlocutors had accepted the "international dimension" of the problem.<br /><br />Geelani has put forth five points for a dialogue process in Jammu and Kashmir to begin, and his first and foremost assertion has been that India should accept Kashmir as an international dispute.<br /><br />Home Minister P. Chidambaram said there were "no red lines" to the interlocutors’ mission.<br /><br />“It is time to finally accept the fact that Kashmir is a dispute that must be resolved without losing further time," said Professor Muzaffar Ahmad, a college teacher.<br />“If this mission of interlocutors fails, then the hope of peace in Kashmir could be lost forever,” he said.</p>