They said the delegation urged the Home Minister to immediately ban use of pellet guns as a crowd control means in Kashmir.
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Various Srinagar-based trade union organisations and other civil society groups of the Valley, however, refused to meet Mr Singh, saying it would be a “waste of time”.
Omar led an NC delegation and interacted with Singh for 45 minutes, official sources said. “Shall interact with civil society groups, political parties and other stakeholders”, the Home minister tweeted before heading for Kashmir.
The minister is staying at the historic Nehru Guest House, on the Zabarwan Hills near the eastern shore of Dal Lake, where the government held talks with the moderate faction of the pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahideen militant group in August 2000. However, prominent trade groups in Kashmir have made a decision to boycott any meeting with Singh like they did during his previous visit. J&K Congress chief G A Mir said a delegation of the party called on Singh and apprised him of the turbulent situation.
Almost a week after the Northern Commander Lt Gen DS Hooda said that everyone, including the separatists, need to come forward and “sit down and see if we can find an end” to the ongoing protests in the Valley, the joint separatist leadership comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik asked people to write letters to the armed forces including BSF, CRFP, ITBP and CISF. He said common man in streets of Srinagar does not approve of violence but there are handful of people sponsored by foreign agencies who are triggering violence in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Home Minister today has gone there and I am hopeful that he will not only talk to political parties but. But may be there are certain extremist elements there who get fomented with the foreign sponsorship”, said the Minister, who represent Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur constituency in Lok Sabha. Earlier, he undertook a two-day Kashmir visit on July 23 and 24.
The separatist leaders also said there was no possibility of talks with the government “within the framework of Indian constitution”, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said.
Authorities lifted a daytime curfew in some parts of Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar. This led to massive clashes between the people and the security forces comprising Army, police and the CRPF jawans. “Civilians were also injured”, he said. One of them, Amir Gul Mir, a resident of Ratnipora Village later succumbed to his injuries. A police spokesperson said that during stone pelting near Degree College Pulwama, militants hiding in a mob fired and hurled two grenades on the deployment. The injured include Commanding Officer of 183 Battalion CRPF, Additional Superintendent of Police Azhar Baba, Deputy Superintendent of Police Shafiq Ahmad and Station House Officer (SHO) Adil Ahmad.
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A massive protest was organized by locals in Natipora area of Srinagar against the civilian killings and arrests of youth. The Centre has asked security forces to strictly implement curfew in the Valley.
