All-party team may meet Hurriyat
Mehbooba meets Modi, presents 3-point action plan
Decks appeared to be clear on Saturday for a meeting between Kashmiri separatists and members of an all-party delegation scheduled to visit Srinagar early next month.
The Centre and the state government have agreed no member of the delegation will be stopped from engaging with the separatists, sources said after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.
Talks with separatists might help restore normality in Kashmir, where 70 people have been killed in street protests against the gunning down of militant commander Burhan Wani by security forces last month. The region has been under curfew for a record 50 days.
“The meeting with PM was a confidence boosting measure for Mehbooba…” a senior government official with knowledge of the meeting said on the condition of anonymity. This was Mehbooba’s first meeting with Modi since trouble started in Kashmir. Mehbooba exhorted the separatists to help her government end the violence, which she said was being incited by Pakistan. Her party, PDP, later urged separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani to treat her as his daughter and give her “the opportunity she deserves”. PDP sources said Mehbooba suggested to Modi a “three-pronged action plan”, including involving separatists and Pakistan in substantive talks. She also asked for “an institutional mechanism of interlocutors” to talk to all stakeholders in Kashmir. In 2010, a meeting between an all-party team and separatists helped restore calm after similar street protests. The then UPA government also sent interlocutors to Kashmir but their recommendations have gathered dust.
With Toufiq Rashid in Srinagar
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday accused Pakistan of fuelling violence in the Valley, following the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani nearly two months ago.
Mehbooba said this after an hour-long meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where she was assured full support from the Centre. However, her remarks evoked a mixed response in the Valley’s political circles.
Sources say the Centre has so far found Mehbooba reluctant to take stringent action against those instigating violence, fearing that it may antagonise voters. However, with Modi himself now asking her to take the lead, she may brace up to the challenge.
“For the first time, she clearly spoke on what needed to be spoken,” said a government official who meets Mehbooba in Srinagar regularly.
The CM said Modi was concerned about the situation, and wanted the bloodshed to end. She also accused Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif of not cooperating with his Indian counterpart to establish peace in the troubled zone. “Modi took the bold initiative of inviting Sharif to his oathtaking ceremony, and later flew to Lahore. This, unfortunately, was followed by the Pathankot terror attack,” Mehbooba said.
While the ruling PDP hailed Mehbooba’s statement, the National Conference said she didn’t have anything significant to say. “The CM’s statements indicate that the state government has no control or direction. People were expecting some sort of a statement on initiating a dialogue with the people,’’ said party general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar.
CPI(M) leader Yusuf Tarigami did not dismiss the meeting in totality, but said Mehbooba should press for evolving a mechanism for dialogue.
The state Congress, for its part, stressed on rising above hype and coming up with a roadmap to defuse the immediate crisis in Kashmir. “The longer resolution can be worked out later,’’ said party leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir.
Meanwhile, PDP leader Dr Mehboob Beg asked Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani to give Mehbooba an opportunity to prove herself. “Geelani Sahab must think of Mehbooba as his daughter… she understands the pain and pulse of the people because she has risen from the grassroots,” he said.