In a two-pronged strategy to defuse the current crisis in Jammu and Kashmir, an all-party meeting on Monday called for an independent inquiry into the death of civilians, and urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to give a fillip to “internal and external dialogue.”
The meeting, convened by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, appealed to all political parties to help in restoration of peace and normality in the State which has been rocked by disturbances in the past one month. In the period, 15 persons have died, mostly in firing by security personnel.
The main opposition party, PDP, and another regional outfit, Panthers Party, stayed away from the meeting that lasted over four hours. Besides the ruling National Conference and the Congress, the meeting was attended by the BJP and the CPI(M).
Mr. Abdullah told reporters that the meeting had decided that an all-party delegation will call on the Prime Minister to draw his attention to various problems faced by the people of the State.
The meeting also urged the Centre to strengthen the on-going peace process through internal and external dialogue, the Chief Minister said, without elaborating.
This is obviously a reference to the dialogue with the moderate Hurriyat Conference and, externally, with Pakistan.
The Chief Minister said the BJP was not party to the demand for independent inquiry into the civilian deaths.
Keeping in view the suffering of the people, huge economic loss and adverse impact on the education of the children, the meeting urged the people irrespective of their political affiliations to help in the restoration of peace and normality, he said.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti boycotted the meeting saying it was an exercise in futility. She had even rejected the Prime Minister's appeal to her to attend the meeting to join hands with the government to tackle the current crisis.
The parties urged the State government have an inquiry conducted to ascertain the circumstances leading to the death of civilians.
The meeting expressed deep anguish at the unfortunate loss of lives during the recent disturbances and appealed to the State government to consider adequate relief for the families of the deceased.
