J&K parties say no invite to talks with Centre’s envoy
SRINAGAR :Most trade bodies boycotted their meetings with the Centre’s newly appointed Jammu and Kashmir interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma who arrived in Srinagar on Monday while some of the major political players said they haven’t received any invitation for talks.
National Conference is yet to receive invitation from Sharma who is on a five-day visit to the state. The Hurriyat Conference which had already turned down any talks hasn’t been invited either by Sharma, a former intelligence bureau director, who is on a maiden visit to the state after his appointment as interlocutor.
“There is always a formal invitation for talks. We haven’t been invited and we are not knocking on Mr Sharma’s door asking for appointment. Considering what happened to the earlier interlocutors’ reports, this makes the whole process doubtful,’’ NC spokesman Tanvir Sadiq told HT.
Sadiq said there is a proper mechanism of slotting meeting and extending invites in any such meetings in the past. “Last time, when home minister Rajnath Singh was in Srinagar we got invites from home ministry though the divisional commissioner,’’ he added.
Despite repeated attempts NC president Farooq Abdullah and son Omar Abdullah could not be reached. On Sunday, Farooq Abdullah had said that he does not expect much from the exercise of the new interlocutor.
The separatist leadership which has already dismissed the possibility of talks with the Centre “on the present premise’’ has also not received any formal invitation. Hurriyat is clear – “invite or no invite’’ they are unlikely to meet the interlocutor.
“We have cleared our position. How will the government which is not ready to discuss autonomy, talk to us?” said Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
Meanwhile Kashmir’s apex trade body Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) turned down the interlocutor’s invitations for talks on Monday.
“The organization decided to boycott the meeting as reports from previous interlocutors yielded no results. We were invited by the Divisional Commissioner but we are not meeting,’’ KCCI president Javed Tenga said.