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All party
team meets wounded, anguished Kashmiris
Tuesday, September 21, 2010 06:32:38 PM,
IANS
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Srinagar/Jammu:
Indian political leaders Tuesday spoke to some of those wounded in
firing by security forces to understand the agony of the still
curfew-bound Kashmir Valley before flying to Jammu region for more
interactions with people.
The streets of Srinagar remained deserted yet another day because
of curfew even as some residents felt that the delegation from New
Delhi made a good beginning by reaching out to separatist leaders
Monday.
Home Minister P. Chidambaram and other delegation members visited
Tangmarg town in the valley where six people were killed Sep 13.
Some delegation members visited hospitals here to meet young and
not-so-young men injured during clashes with the security forces,
who have gunned down more than 100 civilian protestors across the
valley since June 11.
With the unrest showing no signs of abating, the central
government had despatched the delegation drawn from all political
parties to the state. The group is attempting to get a sense of
the ground situation in the state before deciding on steps to
defuse the tension.
But Chief Minister Omar Abdullah warned that while the
delegation's meetings were a step forward, the central government
should come out with "something substantial" to overcome the anger
on the streets.
"I don't think anybody expected them to reach out," Abdullah said,
referring to the meetings political leaders from New Delhi had in
Srinagar Monday with Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and
Yasin Malik.
Small groups from the delegation set aside protocol to call on
Hurriyat leaders Gilani and Farooq as well as the Jammu and
Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Malik after the three
refused to meet the visitors.
Abdullah said: "It is only the first step. Unless something
concrete follows, this will just be a symbolic interaction. I am
hoping something substantial will come out of these meetings."
Like in the Kashmir Valley, the delegation met a cross-section of
people in Jammu too.
Among others, they met traders and Kashmiri Hindus who fled the
valley after the separatist campaign broke out in 1989. The
movement has left thousands dead.
The Jammu-based Panthers Party boycotted the delegation.
Earlier in the day, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's (MIM) Asaduddin
Owaisi and Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Sushma Swaraj were among
the political leaders who visited the Hazratbal in Srinagar. It
houses the holy relic of the Prophet and is the holiest Muslim
shrine in Jammu and Kashmir.
But Sushma Swaraj made it clear that there was no unanimity in the
delegation over Monday's meetings with separatist leaders.
She said the decision to meet the separatist leaders in groups was
not a collective one. She said some delegates had expressed a
desire to meet the separatists.
"That was their personal decision. If some people want to go, we
cannot stop them. But we decided not to go," she said.
An official said that the curfew was continuing in the valley
because of intelligence reports that "miscreants" had planned to
incite violence when the delegation toured Srinagar.
On Monday, the delegation met representatives of trade, industry,
tour groups, transport, apple growers, NGOs, students,
vice-chancellors as well as some prominent writers and
journalists.
Representatives of Sikhs also called on the delegation Monday
evening. So did groups of Gujjar and Bakerwala communities.
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