All-party delegation members meet Syed Ali Shah Geelani

Srinagar : Notwithstanding harline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani?s refusal to accept an invitation from the all-party delegation visiting the Kashmir Valley, five leaders of the delegation on Monday called on the separatist leader at his residence here.

Veteran Communist leader Sitaram Yechury, along with four others, met Geelani as part of the all-party initiative to gauge public sentinments in the Valley to evolve a consensus solution to the ongoing crisis.

Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi and three others accompanied the visiting team to Geealni?s residence.

T R Baalu (DMK), Ratan Singh Ajnala (Akali Dal) and Namo Nageshwara Rao (TDP) were part of the four-member team deputed by the all-party delegation.

Members of the all-party team are also expected to call on moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and separatist Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Yasin Malik.

Geelani had earlier refused to meet the all-party delegation, calling the visit an ?eye-wash?.

His Hurriyat Conference faction has been in the lead in the current protests where stone-melting mobs routinely clash with security personnel, which have claimed 105 lives since June 11.

The all party delegation, headed by Union Home P Chidambaram and comprising representatives from the mainstream political parties, arrived here Monday on a two-day visit to assess the situation in Kashmir.

The delegation will meet the cross section of people and various political parties in Srinagar during its visit before submitting its recommendation to the Centre for consideration by the Cabinet committee.

The decision to send a delegation, for the first time in two decades, was taken at an all-party meeting here last week, in which the Prime Minister stressed on feedback from the Kashmir people to chalk out strategy to tackle the unrest in the valley.