Home minister Rajnath Singh in Monday lashed out at Hurriyat leaders in Kashmir after their refusal to hold talks with members of the all-party delegation, saying the separatists’ behavior showed they do not believe in Kashmiriyat, insaniyat (humanity) or jamhooriyat (democracy).
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Reacting to Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh’s statement that “Kashmir is an integral part of India”, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (m) Monday said that Jammu and Kashmir is an “internationally-accepted” dispute since 1947.
The members of the all-party delegation is likely to meet here tomorrow to discuss their findings during the two-day visit and chalk out future plans for Jammu and Kashmir.
Wednesday’s meeting comes amid reports that the Centre is planning to harden its stance vis-à-vis Kashmiri separatist leaders who snubbed individual members of the all-party delegation who tried to talk to them in Srinagar on Sunday. Hurriyat leaders S.A.S. Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq yesterday refused to meet a group of the all-party delegation, who arrived in Srinagar to hold meetings with all the stakeholders in the state.
Earlier in the day, the separatists rejected Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s invitation to them for meeting with all-party delegation, terming such a measure as “deceitful” and insisting that it can not be an alternative to a “transparent agenda-based dialogue to address the core issue”.
On the use of pellet guns against protesters, the home minister said he had promised an alternative during his visit on July 24, “A committee was set up which has come up with the alternative of PAVA shells which have been dispatched to the state authorities”, he said.
The members have also requested the governments to take effective steps to provide medical treatment to citizens and security personnel injured in the agitations.
Rajnath Singh said that the government was anxious about the situation in J&K. He said they also felt there can be “no compromise on issue of national sovereignty”.
“Not only our doors but windows are also open for talks”, the Union Minister said.
The all-party delegation arrived here on Sunday on a mission to initiate dialogue to restore peace in the restive Kashmir Valley that is battling almost two months of the deadliest unrest in years. “Kashmir hamara hai, hamara rahega (Kashmir is ours, and would remain ours)”, he said.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said all parties were cooperating with the government and their sole aim was restoration of normalcy in the state.
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The government feels that the Huriyat and other separatist leaders need to be “ignored and exposed” at a time when the common people are generally concerned about the issues of governance, joblessness and children education.
