SRINAGAR, India, Oct 17 (AFP) - With a ceasefire holding on the Kashmiri borders and India and Pakistan still on track with their latest peace initiative, Muslim clerics in Indian Kashmir say they are ready to preach reconciliation during the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Kashmir's chief Muslim cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said the Ramadan period was the right moment for spreading the message of peace since devotees fill mosques and shrines and spend a large part of the day in prayer and fasting.
"I would certainly... tell the people how we can bring peace in our lives even if the various parties involved in the conflict do not cease their hostilities," he said.
"After all, Ramadan itself is the month of peace, salvation and to seek forgiveness," Farooq added.
The Himalayan region is divided between India and Pakistan and a 15-year insurgency in the part ruled by New Delhi has left more than 40,000 people dead. Separatists put the toll at between 80,000 and 100,000.
Farooq, head of the moderate faction of Kashmir's main separatist alliance, said he planned to give at least one religious sermon focused on peace and reconciliation every day at mosques and other places of worship during Ramadan.
Hopes for peace in Kashmir have risen with a ceasefire between India and Pakistan holding since November 25, 2003. The two sides, which both claim the region in full, have been engaged in fresh talks over the dispute since February.
Several rounds of negotiations culminated in a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in New York last month.
A number of Kashmiri political figures, including Chief Minister Mufti Muhammed Sayeed, have urged the Indian security forces and Muslim separatist rebels to enter into a ceasefire to mark Ramadan.
"I want to see that peace has reached every single Kashmiri home. Try to listen to the heartbeats of the people who have developed a stake in peace," Sayeed said.
Neither side has signalled its willingness to agree to the proposal, although on a positive note analysts point out that so far no separatist rebel group has threatened to intensify its attacks during the holy month.
Usually, the period is marked by stepped-up violence as Muslim militants believe those who die fighting during Ramadan gain extra heavenly rewards.
Some dozen rebel groups are fighting to secede Kashmir from India. The armed struggle was launched by the secular Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front in 1989 but slowly the reins have passed into the hands of hardline Islamists.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Muhammed Yusuf Tarigami said he was hoping militants and security forces would show restraint during the fasting month.
Various social and religious organisations are planning to raise funds during Ramadan to help nearly 20,000 Kashmiri widows whose husbands have died in the separatist violence.
"We will organise a door-to-door campaign, not only to collect donations, but also encourage people to help the needy in all ways possible," said Abdur Razzak Butt, office bearer of Sultan-ul-Aarifeen Welfare Trust, a social group.
Thousands of pamphlets and posters have been prepared to remind people of the sayings of Prophet Mohammed to help promote peace.