The People's Conference on Thursday asked the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference, of which it is a constituent, to give up its rigid stand on the Kashmir issue in the wake of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's peace initiatives.

"India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, are big countries. If they can show flexibility in their stand on the Kashmir issue, why cannot we," the outfit's chairman, Sajjad Gani Lone, said at a massive gathering in Srinagar a day after the first death anniversary of his father Abdul Gani Lone.

He said, "The world order has changed... A peace wave has begun and we have to understand it.

"We have to know our standing on the diplomatic front and adjust accordingly."

Lone also called on people to control their anti-US and anti-West. "We have to be careful of the consequences of these utterances. Sentimental statements may be pleasing for the time being but it could harm the Kashmir cause.

"We have to see whether we are advocating the case of the people of the state properly or not... whether we are harming the feelings of the people by our acts," he said.