Sinha-led peace delegation holds talks with separatists
SRINAGAR: A five-member delegation led by senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha met Kashmiri separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in Srinagar on Tuesday in an effort to find a solution to the state’s three-month unrest.
The Hurriyat Conference hardline group leader, Geelani, allowed the delegation inside his home in Srinagar’s Hyderpora area. But the media was kept out. The 87-year-old is under house arrest.
The meeting lasted more than an hour and “in a cordial atmosphere”.
“The aim is to share the pain and sufferings of the people. If we can do that, we will consider ourselves fortunate,” Sinha said.
The delegation, which is on a three-day visit to the Jammu and Kashmir summer capital, met the Mirwaiz, the Valley’s chief cleric and Hurriyat Conference moderate group chairman, later in the day.
“They understood our point of view,” he said afterwards.
The Mirwaiz was released on Monday night from Chashme Shahi sub-jail, where he was detained since August 27.
For his part, Geelani demanded release of all youth and separatist leaders “so that a common and collective point of view can be put forward after consultation”.
The team was expected to meet JKLF leader Yasin Malik, but that is unlikely as he is undergoing treatment for an undisclosed illness.
Former Union minister Sinha said before his meeting with Geelani that the delegation was “not official” and its members were there in their personal capacity to assess the situation in the Valley after killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani on July 8.
Geelani, Mirwaiz and Malik have been jointly issuing weekly protest programmes ever since the unrest started in the Valley.
Sinha’s party distanced itself from the delegation, saying the BJP has nothing to do with it.
The team comprises Wajahat Habibullah, the former chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities, former air vicemarshal Kapil Kak, journalist Bharat Bhushan, and Sushobha Barve, the executive director of the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation.
The Sinha-led delegation’s visit follows a similar but futile exercise in September when Union home minister Rajnath Singh brought an all-party team to Srinagar.