Kashmir delegation reaches out to separatist leaders

Srinagar : Seeking to gauge public sentiments to evolve a consensual settlement of the current Kashmir crisis, an all-party visiting delegation on Monday held talks with political parties of Jammu and Kashmir and took extra initiatives to take harline separatists, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, as well in to confidence.

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 even as almost all major towns of the Valley remained under curfew.

After being received by J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah, Chidambaram expressed optimism that a solution to the crisis that was acceptable to all sides will be worked out.

?We hope and believe that the honour, dignity and future (of Kashmiris) are secure as part of India,” he said.

The delegation held meetings with representatives of almost all major political parties of the state.

Harline Hurriyat leader Geelani had announced of not meeting the delegation, terming the visit an ?eye-wash?.

But five members of the visiting delegation, including Communist leader Sitaram Yechury, called upon Geelani at his residence.

Moderate separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Yasin Malik, whose outfit wants independence from both India and Pakistan, had also rejected the invitation to attend the delegation.

The separatist groups will submit a joint memorandum to the all-party team.

Members of the all-party delegation are expected to meet Mirwaiz and Malik.

The state main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti, who stayed away from the meet, deputed her party delegation.

PDP leader Nizamuddin Bhatt, who led the team, told reporters after the meeting that the PDP urged the all-party delegation to ?come up with out of the box solutions? to resolve the Kashmir issue.

Bhatt blamed two factors for the present crisis ? the long pending Kashmir dispute and immediate ?mishandling? of the situation by the state government.

?The Centre will have to stake steps for wriggling the people of the Valley from the siege and stop the killing so that they feel that they are living in a truly democratic system,? he said, urging for confidence-building measures, like repeal of the AFSPA.

State minister Abdul Rahim Rather, who led the National Conference delegation said, ?We have proposed autonomy (restoration of autonomy) as the solution to the Kashmir issue. It is nothing new as it is contained in the instrument of accession.?

He claimed that over the years the autonomy of J&K was ?eroded unconstitutionally?, which has led to the present discontent.

JK Pradesh Congress Committee chief Saifuddin Soz urged the all-party team for a ?qualitatively different? response and said ?they will have to cross the line and reach out to the civil society in Kashmir?.

Stressing that dialogue was the only way forward, he also emphasized on maintaining the integrity of the three regions of the state.

Soz also pressed for restoration of civil liberties of people in the state in full measure and with dignity.

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.

At least 105 lives have been lost in the current unrest that started on June 11.