*Govt, Oppn should work together for peace
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Aug 22: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today that his Government believes in talks and called for finding “permanent and lasting solution” to Kashmir problem within the framework of Indian Constitution for which he called upon all political parties to work together in Jammu and Kashmir.
He told this to a delegation of Opposition parties from Jammu and Kashmir during 70-minute meeting at Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) at South Block, New Delhi this morning, which was led by former Chief Minister and National Conference working president Omar Abdullah.
“There has to be dialogue and we need to find permanent and lasting solution to the (Kashmir) problem within the framework of the Constitution,” Modi said and emphasized need for all political parties to work together to find solution to the problems in Jammu and Kashmir.
Asserting that it was not an occasion of “blame-game for the political parties”, the Prime Minister told the delegation that the Central Government accords high priority to safety and well being of the people and don’t want to use force on its own people in the Valley but said “sometimes it becomes inevitable”.
“We believe in talks. All situations can be resolved through talks. I, as a Prime Minister, and my office is accessible to all. The stakeholders can come any time to give suggestions. The Government and Opposition should join hands and work together for restoration of peace in Kashmir,” Modi said.
Expressing deep concern and pain at prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Modi said: “those who lost their lives during recent disturbances are part of us, our nation and whether the lives lost are of our youth, security personnel or innocent civilians, it distresses us”.
Calling upon all political parties to reach out to the people and convey them the stand of the Government of India, he expressed commitment to development of the State and appeal for restoration of peace and normalcy in the State, which has been badly shattered for the past 45 days after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8 in which 66 people have so far been killed and nearly 6000, many of them security personnel, injured.
An official handout issued by the PMO said the meeting was held in an atmosphere of free and frank discussion.
Briefing media persons after the meeting, Minister of State in the PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh said the Prime Minister assured the delegation and through them the people of Kashmir that his Government accords high priority to safety and well being of the people including welfare of the children, which was responsibility of the Government.
Calling upon the political parties to rise above political interests, Dr Singh quoted the Prime Minister as having told the Opposition delegation that they should reach out to people and held defuse situation. Modi said the political parties should maintain close contact with the people. He said the Government was always available to receive suggestions from the political parties to resolve the problem.
Leader of the delegation, Omar Abdullah, in his address at the meeting with the Prime Minister, charged Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti with giving “contradictory statements” on the situation in Kashmir. He charged Ms Mufti with having failed to handle situation in the Valley.
PCC (I) president GA Mir called for “constructive steps” to solve Kashmir problem.
CPM veteran and MLA MY Tarigami said there should be no hardening of the positions as far as situation in Kashmir was concerned.
National Conference provincial president Devender Singh Rana said the meeting with the Prime Minister was “very positive”. He said the Prime Minister listened patiently to the views of delegation members.
However, according to sources, the Opposition parties, didn’t make any mention of Pakistan’s non-involvement in Kashmir unrest, separatists and sending an all-party delegation to Kashmir, which they had been referring repeatedly.
In their meeting with the Prime Minister, the Opposition leaders made no mention of Pakistan or separatists though in their meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee, they had stated that Pakistan was not involved in Kashmir unrest. This time, they didn’t make any demand for sending an all-party delegation to Kashmir though previously they had been insisting on it.
It may be mentioned here that National Conference had boycotted all-party meeting called by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in Srinagar while Congress didn’t meet Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh when he was in Srinagar for two-days last month. Similarly, sources said, Rajnath Singh had personally rang up Omar Abdullah to join all-party meeting called by the Prime Minister in New Delhi as his party had no presence in both Houses of the Parliament. However, Omar didn’t attend the meeting.
Immediately after the statement was released from the Prime Minister’s Office, Omar tweeted, “we welcome the statement of the Hon PM @narendramodi ji and look forward to working together to find a lasting solution to problems of J&K.”
He also tweeted saying he is “grateful to @narendramodi ji for taking out the time to receive the delegation from J&K and giving us a patient hearing beyond allotted time.”
Earlier, the Opposition parties from Jammu and Kashmir led by Omar Abdullah called on the Prime Minister and appealed that a political approach needs to be adopted for resolving the present crisis in the Valley and to ensure that the “mistakes” of the past are not repeated.
Emerging after a 75-minute-long meeting, Omar, the former Chief Minister of the State, told reporters that the Prime Minister listened to “us with patience and accepted our memorandum”.
He said they requested the Prime Minister for finding a political solution to the Kashmir issue so that a lasting peace is ensured in the State as well as the country.
“We talked about the same thing that we have been talking with other leaders ever since we arrived in Delhi that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, especially in light of the present crisis, needs to be understood correctly after which a solution is required.
“We emphasized that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is more of political in nature. Time and again such situations do arise but if we are unable to find a political solution to it, we will be repeating our mistakes again and again,” Omar said.
He said the Prime Minister agreed with the delegation that development alone is not an answer to the crisis.
“The Prime Minister told us in categorical terms that development alone will not resolve this problem,” he said and refused to draw any conclusion from that.
“I am not going to put words into the Prime Minister’s mouth nor am I going to draw further meaning from what he said,” Omar said.
The delegation apprised the Prime Minister of the ground situation in the Valley which continues to remain under curfew for last 45 days.
Besides Omar, the delegation — comprising a seven-member team of State Congress led by its PCC chief G A Mir, CPM MLA M Y Tarigami, eight-member team of main opposition National Conference including its provincial chiefs Devender Singh Rana and Nasir Aslam Wani — has been camping in the national capital and meeting political leaders from the Government and Opposition.
Asked about the statement made by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Jammu yesterday that stone-pelters were no “satyagrahis but aggressors”, Omar said “I do not wish to say anything on this as the Prime Minister told us nothing like this.
“And more importantly, let’s not play politics over Jammu and Kashmir. We will get ample time to play political games later.”
Omar said he was not in the national capital to score any political points. “I am not heartless that when my people are getting killed daily, I will play politics. Our motive is to break the cycle of death and find a long term solution to the problem.”
The delegation submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister, expressing “its anguish, grief and sorrow over the painful loss of lives in the Valley” and to express “dismay at the lack of a political approach to deal with the situation.”
The delegation apprised the Prime Minister that the tried and tested formulations of dealing with the issue in Kashmir administratively rather than politically have further exacerbated the situation and “created an unprecedented sense of disaffection and disenchantment – especially among the youth.
“We are of the firm opinion that the Central Government should waste no further time in initiating a credible and meaningful political dialogue with all stakeholders to address the unrest in the State,” the memorandum said.
The delegation said, “continued failure to address the unrest in Kashmir will further deepen the sense of alienation” and hoped that the Prime Minister “will take immediate measures to address this grave situation.”
“We hope that our efforts will bear some fruits. We are not here to complain about anyone but have come with a request that if our suggestions are heeded to, it will have a positive impact not only on Jammu and Kashmir but in the entire country,” he said.
Omar said “we all should learn from our mistakes. I learnt it in 2010 (agitation) and so should others. The problem is that we tend to believe that we have learnt from our past mistakes and then, more or less, become complacent.”
The memorandum requested the Prime Minister to announce “an immediate ban on pellet guns that have caused grievous injuries in the current unrest and maimed and blinded many young boys and girls”.
The leaders flagged the issue of youths falling victim to the continued protests, including a young teenager named Irfan, who was killed last night when a teargas shell hit him on his chest.
“We also implore you to announce an immediate ban on pellet guns and advise relevant quarters against the policy of mass harassment, raids and arrests as this has worsened an already volatile situation in the State and also goes against the values and principles of democracy,” the memorandum said.
The memorandum was signed by Omar Abdullah (National Conference), Ghulam Ahmad Mir (Congress), MY Tarigami (CPM), Ghulam Hassan Mir (former Minister) and Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen, MLA.
Asked about the Centre’s position on Pakistan-occupied- Kashmir, Omar said, “This question should be put to the PMO or Ministry of External Affairs. I am here to talk about my people in the State.”
The delegation started the political initiative on Saturday when it met President Pranab Mukherjee and submitted a memorandum, requesting him to use his office to influence the Centre for initiating a political dialogue with all stakeholders in the State.
Yesterday, the delegation met Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and apprised him about the situation in the State.
Meanwhile, a joint delegation of opposition parties led by former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today met CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and urged him to continue giving support for finding a solution to the Kashmir issue through political means.
The seven-member delegation, which also included CPM MLA from the State M Y Tarigami, had a thorough discussion with Yechury, who was flanked by Politburo members Prakash Karat and M A Baby.
The delegation urged the Left parties to play their role in finding a “lasting” solution to the woes of people of Jammu and Kashmir, which is in the grip of unrest for more than a month now.
After the hour-long meeting, Omar told reporters that he had come to thank Yechury for the stand the left parties had taken on the unrest during the recently concluded Parliament session and asked him to ensure that the issue remains “alive” till the “final” solution was worked out.
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