A five-member group led by former Union Minister and BJP leader Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday succeeded in breaking the ice with separatists and held meetings with Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who had refused an audience to the visiting all-party parliamentarian delegation in September.
Without spelling the mandate of the group, Mr. Sinha, who arrived here in the morning, said, “The group does not represent the Government of India. We are here to talk to the separatists and to understand sufferings of Kashmiri people. We held meetings in a cordial atmosphere.”
Mr. Sinha was accompanied by former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah; former Air Vice-Marshal Kapil Kak; journalist Bharat Bhushan; and Executive Director of the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation Sushobha Barve.
Mr. Geelani, who reportedly apprised the group of “civilian casualties and mass detentions” during the civilian unrest that has been going on for 109 days now, said, “The onus of bringing peace in the region, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir, lies with those in control of power, military and other resources.” Mr. Geelani told the delegation that “all arrested people should be released and cases withdrawn.” “Thereafter, a collective point of view can be put forward,” he said.
The Mirwaiz alleged that the all-party delegation visit in September was a “non-serious effort and a drama aimed at diverting the attention from the real issue”.
“We asked the group led by Mr. Sinha to educate the Indian masses about the reality in Kashmir. Unfortunately, the Government of India is trying to dilute or divert the perspective of the Kashmir dispute as it is smitten by power. It wants to project Kashmir as a law and order problem or an electoral or internal issue. It should accept Kashmir as a dispute and address it in its right historical context,” he said.
Stating that “no Hurriyat leader opposes meaningful engagement”, the Mirwaiz said, “The goal of any dialogue process should be to resolve the dispute. Two, all the three stakeholders, India, Pakistan and leadership of Jammu and Kashmir should be on board.”
