Sajjad Lone, 35 , took over leadership of the separatist People's Conference party after his father, Abdul Ghani Lone, was assassinated in May this year. He has studied in Britain and has a degree in Psychology. He also has business interests in Dubai. He is married to Asma, the daughter of Amanullah Khan, who heads the separatist Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. I head the Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference which is part of the All Party Hurriyat Conference [the main separatist alliance]. Before entering politics I was a businessman and I used to also write articles in major Pakistani and Indian newspapers on issues confronting the region. I suppose you could say that I was analytically inclined towards politics. We lived in a place where the crime rate was almost zero, and rapes were unheard of. It was a peaceful society. It always made me proud Listen to audio Real 28k  I am proud to be a Kashmiri. Before 1989, we were living in a region where violence was a regular feature everywhere but in Kashmir. The crime rate here was almost zero. Killing or murders were unheard of. We were a peaceful society which was pure but not primitive. The brand of Islam that we followed was very liberal - in fact we were a very liberal society. But in 1989 something went drastically wrong - and I think it was the way India handled Kashmir. Until then people had political grievances but they used political means to express their grievances. Somehow that movement switched from being political to becoming violent. The catalyst was the 1987 election in Kashmir which was shamelessly and blatantly rigged. I think that became a turning point. Historical grievance But the basic cause of the violence is rooted in history, when India pledged in 1948 to hold a plebiscite where the people of Kashmir would be free to choose to join India or Pakistan. Sajjad entered politics after his father, Abdul Ghani Lone, was assassinated They reneged on that promise and did not allow the plebiscite to be held. Over a period of time they brushed the problem under the carpet - India did not even allow any alternative solution to be considered. But it all erupted in 1989 after the elections two years earlier and a host of other factors. The only way forward now is talks and only talks. If there were a military imbalance between India and Pakistan - that is one country was military superior to the other - I as a Kashmiri would advocate a military solution. But the reality is that there is military parity between India and Pakistan and that is working against us. There is little chance of either country emerging as an outright victor in a conventional war, which means Kashmir will continue to be on the boil. It suits both countries. So at the end of the day we all have to go to the negotiating table - India, Pakistan and the Kashmiris. And the sooner we do this the better it is for all of us - the number of casualties will come down for a start. Every day that we delay talks we add at least 18 to 20 people to the list of casualties. And it will keep multiplying. Even if we disagree with each other we should talk. If we are really sincere in our resolve to find a solution we might just find something in between which will not be in consonance with everybody's stated position. The new millennium has posed new challenges and offered fresh solutions and creative ways forward. All of us want to go back to the Kashmir that was, the Kashmir of peace. It is my dream that the average Kashmiri, irrespective of his political future, should be equipped with the tools to face the challenges of the new era, the new market. We are as talented and as creative and as capable as anybody else. We just need a chance and we need to be given that opportunity.