Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, July 23: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today dropped hints of the Central Government engaging the people of Kashmir by working out some kind of mechanism, which would be totally different from the previous experiments of setting up the Working Groups or Interlocutors to restore peace and normalcy in Kashmir even as the Government of India was strongly of the view and have firm evidence that “forces from across the border” were instrumental in fomenting trouble in the Valley in the wake of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani’s killing.
During his Day 1 of two-day visit to Kashmir, Rajnath spent the day at Nehru Guest House in Srinagar, the summer capital of the State, meeting 15 delegations from Civil Society including the Muslim clerics even though two trade organizations choose not to meet him.
He had detailed meeting with Governor NN Vohra tonight and will meet Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti tomorrow during which “all aspects of situation” in Kashmir including the current unrest and steps required to contain it will be discussed.
He will hold high level security review meeting with top brass of all security and Intelligence agencies, operating in Jammu and Kashmir, police and civil administration and meet delegations of all mainstream political parties before returning to New Delhi tomorrow.
A MHA release said Rajnath met 15 delegations including those from Sikh Community, Kashmiri Pandits, Imams, youths, horticulture, tourism, hospitality, industry and entrepreneurs besides some individuals.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the Union Home Minister elicited the opinion of large number of delegations from the civil society, which called on him at Nehru Guest House, during the day after his arrival in Srinagar from New Delhi. Most of the organizations submitted memorandums to the Home Minister.
Sources said the Union Home Ministry was now mulling the option of engaging the people of Kashmir at some levels but with a difference from the past. The Government didn’t want to give the impression that new mechanism will meet the fate of previous ones like setting up of five Working Groups followed by three Interlocutors-Dileep Padgaonkar, Radha Kumar and MM Ansari etc.
Pointing out that Rajnath Singh has hinted to the delegations that the present Government’s mechanism would be different from the past, sources said the Centre wants to open direct channels of talks with the people of the Kashmir valley without harping much on the separatists as it feels that the separatists mostly take directions from “across the border”.
“The Government of India will work out a mechanism to engage in direct talks with the people of Kashmir to listen to their problems and address them in best possible manner. The mechanism would be worked out by the Home Ministry and announced soon,” they said.
According to sources, the Union Home Minister, in his inter-action with the delegations, said the Centre has “firm evidence and clear information” that trouble in the Kashmir valley in the aftermath of Burhan Wani’s killing was “exploited and fomented” from across the border, leading to death of nearly 45 civilians and injuries to 3600 others, including a number of para-military personnel.
According to sources, some of the members from civil society stressed for engaging the people in talks so that their voice was heard by the Centre and they could raise their issues before the Government of India as well as J&K. The Home Minister, they said, was not averse to the idea and assured that the Centre was already thinking on these lines and could come out with the mechanism very soon.
They said the Union Home Minister expressed his satisfaction over the way situation was tackled by the State Government, para-military forces and police by exercising maximum restraint despite grave provocations. He assured the civil society members that directions have been issued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that there should be no excessive use of force on the civilians and no innocent person should be harassed. At the same time, he said, the Government would sternly deal with trouble mongers.
The Home Minister reportedly asked the civil society members to rein-in the youths from hitting the streets and attacking security forces installations, which prompted troops to retaliate leading to the casualties. He told them that the citizens have right to hold peaceful protests but not the violence especially targeting police stations, Army camps etc.
Sources said only two trade and commerce bodies, didn’t turn up for meeting with Singh. They included Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) and Kashmir Economics Alliance (KEA). However, a large number of delegations from the civil society met the Union Home Minister, who was the first senior functionary from the Government of India to visit Kashmir after July 8 unrest in the wake of Burhan Wani’s killing.
Late tonight, Rajnath Singh had meetings with Governor NN Vohra and discussed with him entire gamut of situation prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir with particular reference to the present unrest in Kashmir and the steps the Centre can take it to restore peace and normalcy back to the Valley.
Arrangements for annual Amarnath yatra, apart from the Kashmir unrest, also came up for high level review.
Tomorrow, Rajnath Singh will meet delegations from all mainstream political parties and hold high level review of security situation with top brass of security and Intelligence agencies and civil administration before returning to New Delhi.
Cong to boycott, Omar to meet HM
Congress today decided not to meet Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who is in Srinagar on a two-day visit to review the law and order situation, tomorrow, saying the PDP-BJP coalition Government seems to be “interested in meetings only” and not in any people-friendly steps.
“We had a long meeting on July 21 with Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti where even BJP Ministers and leaders were present. Its been two days since then and we are yet to see even a single people-friendly step being taken,” Pradesh Congress president G A Mir said.
He said it seems that the State and Central Governments are “only interested in meetings and not to translate the decisions taken into action.
“Ironically, neither the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) nor the Home Minister himself has condemned the brutal use of force on civilians. They have only held meetings,” he said.
The Congress leader said whatever his party had to say has been conveyed to the Chief Minister on July 21 during the All Party Meeting. “It’s upto her what she wants to convey to the visiting Home Minister,” he said.
In the meantime, main opposition National Conference will be leading a six-member strong delegation headed by its working President Omar Abdullah to meet Singh tomorrow.
The delegation will be submitting a memorandum highlighting continued failure of the State Government besides projecting the problems faced by the people of the State for last fortnight.
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