Talk to all stake holders in Jammu Kashmir

Before leaving for Srinagar today, Mr. Rajnath Singh had said that the delegation meant to talk to individuals and groups who want peace and normalcy in the Kashmir valley. The 19-year-old said, “The Kashmiri people, like people everywhere, deserve their fundamental human rights”.

Unlike meeting delegations, he will get the leaders from all the unionist parties for a joint brainstorming to suggest Delhi what it should do.

Other political points made to the MPs are: Promises made by current state government have not been fulfilled; Agenda for alliance between PDP and BJP should be implemented; elections of local bodies have not been held and delimitation of constituencies by the State Election Commission/ Election Commission of India to be expedited.

“It was emphsasised that a clear roadmap needs to be drawn with a focus on the way forward”.

Singh also rejected reports about a possible crackdown on “some Hurriyat leaders”, Opposition leaders who attended the meeting said. “If all they had to do was issue this tame & sterile appeal they could very easily have done so without wasting the time and money on a visit”, Omar said after the delegation released a statement on its two-day visit to Kashmir.

Speaking to media after he led an NC delegation to a meeting with the all-party delegation in Srinagar, Omar Abdullah said: “We told the delegation that the government can neither tire nor buy the present agitation”.

The resolution by the all-party delegation which had visited Jammu and Kashmir has recommended that the government talk to all the stakeholders in the Valley. She also thanked the members for holding discussions on the issue in Parliament.

Echoing Yechury, Reddy also urged the stakeholders involved not to take a stiff position on the issue and hold talks with the delegation.

According to local officials and doctors, the use of pellet guns has killed at least four people and left more than 100 partially or completely blind.

Kharge said even though the government had announced that pellet guns would be replaced by chilli-based non-lethal ammunition PAVA, one man died yesterday due to the injuries by pellets. Earlier in the day, the separatists rejected Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s invitation to them for meeting with all-party delegation, terming such a measure as “deceitful” and insisting that it can not be an alternative to a “transparent agenda-based dialogue to address the core issue”.

Talking to reporters, Singh said that the members of the delegation have asked Centre and the state government to take steps to ensure that educational institutions, government offices and commercial establishments start functioning normally in the valley.

The group also went to meet JKLF chief Yaseen Malik who is under detention at BSF camp in Humhama. “They were people from political parties, civil society, university teachers, fruit growers, students and public intellectuals”.

Rajnath on Tuesday briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modion the two-day visit, which ended inconclusively as the Hurriyat refused to talk with the representatives. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti also wrote letters.