Srinagar: Kashmiri separatist group All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) on Wednesday said the “lingering conflict continues to consume lives on all sides bringing only pain and sorrow with it”.

In a statement the APHC said violence, killings and hostility in the region will end if engagement for deliberations among the concerned parties is given a chance.

“2021 was one more year lost to killings, bloodshed and violence in J&K. And as the year 2022 begins, each day since its beginning, precious human lives of young boys killed in encounters are being lost, which is extremely sad,” it said.

The Hurriyat said the lingering conflict continues to consume lives on all sides bringing only pain and sorrow with it.

“…The (Kashmir) issue continues to remain unresolved, despite UN resolutions, wars and bilateral agreements between India and Pakistan. In the meantime people of J&K continue to bear the brunt and suffer,” it added.

The APHC said it firmly believes and has repeatedly been advocating since its formation that violence killings and hostility in the region will end "if engagement for deliberations among the concerned parties is given a chance, gradually paving the way for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir conflict".

“Force, repression, propaganda and underhandedness as a State policy being pursued in J&K, in the long run will only be counterproductive and fatal,” it said.