AN increasing number of Kashmiri youth have been taking to the streets in the Indian occupied part of the disputed state for the past two months to demand freedom from the Indian yoke. They have defied the curfew restrictions and remained undeterred by the security forces brutal repression, which has resulted in the death of nearly 50 persons and drawn criticism of human rights organisations and peace loving people around the world. Rather than reading the writing on the wall and opting for the right course to elicit the wishes of the Kashmiris, as clearly spelled out in the UN resolutions, the Indians seem to be fumbling for a solution. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called an all-party conference to be held today to find a way out of the current situation. What the Indian leadership should, instead, be doing is to put an end to the charade of 'atoot ang and accept the contentious nature of the issue, as Pundit Nehru had done when he took the matter to the UN Security Council and agreed to hold a UN-sponsored plebiscite to settle it once and for all. Sitting across the table with Pakistan, the required modalities of the plebiscite should be worked out. Nothing else could give the poverty-stricken, peace-seeking masses of the subcontinent as good tidings as such a wise and humane move. This would gradually remove the distrust that basically the Indian usurpation of Kashmir has created between the two countries, and usher in an era of genuine normalisation and good neighbourliness. The indefatigable freedom fighter, Syed Ali Geelani, has, on the other hand, decided to observe August 14 as Pakistan Day and called upon the world conscience to wake up and take note of Indias state-terrorism. He has underlined the point by saying that Kashmiris have been targeted with bullets while they were only reminding the Indians of Nehrus promise of holding a plebiscite. He conditioned participation in any talks with New Delhi with its consent to discuss the modalities of holding a plebiscite. Along with Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, he has also demanded the release of arrested Kashmiris and an end to the black laws under which the security forces have become trigger happy; for these laws do not hold them to account for killing anyone considered to be working against the state. The pity is that India continues to reiterate its charge, never substantiated with evidence, of Pakistans involvement in the Mumbai incidents, as it did on Sunday, stressing that Islamabads denial further deepens the distrust. New Delhi would have to abandon such evasive tactics and accept the reality of pervasive anger and discontent in the occupied area due to its forcible occupation. If the 62 years of struggle, entailing the loss of 80,000 lives, have not subdued the Kashmiris urge for freedom from India, more repression never will.