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Dineshwar Sharma reaches out to J&K parties

November 07, 2017 10:37 pm | Updated November 08, 2017 08:49 am IST - Srinagar

Women’s team highlights plight of widows in State; traders speak of disruption

On a mission: Dineshwar Sharma met delegations invited by the State government on Tuesday.

 

The Centre’s Special Representative Dineshwar Sharma, who is on a three-day visit to Srinagar to interact with various stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), is reaching out to political parties in the State. He has so far met delegations that were sent invitations for talks by the State government.

Mr. Sharma met representatives of the Janata Dal(U), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP) on Tuesday and is expected to meet Congress and CPI(M) representatives on Wednesday.

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A women’s delegation, the first of its kind, apprised Mr. Sharma of problems faced by women, while another delegation underlined the “urgency to talk to Pakistan and separatists”.

The delegates said Mr. Sharma hinted at widening the dialogue to other stakeholders too, hinting at the possible inclusion of Hurriyat leaders. Thirty-six delegations met the Special Representative on Tuesday, including a group calling itself the ‘Rahul Gandhi Fans Association’.

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Mr. Sharma has been tasked by the Centre to initiate and “carry forward a dialogue” with the elected representatives, various organizations and concerned individuals in J&K.

Sanjay Saraf, spokesperson of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) said some news channels were vilifying Kashmiris for TRPs and said this needs to be stopped.

“We told the Special Representative that the youth of Kashmir has seen violence for the past 27 years and this needs to stop. The news channels are sending out a wrong message of Kashmir by portraying them in a negative light,” Mr. Saraf said.

Abid Jan, president of the State Employees Working Women Association (SEWWA), said she met Mr. Sharma to focus concerns of women affected by the prolonged conflict.

Bearing the brunt

“We have 35,000 widows, especially in Kupwara. We have a huge chunk of women folk in Kunan Poshpora who are widows. We discussed about rehabilitation of women affected by the conflict,” she said.

Calling for peace centres in every district in Kashmir, Ms Jan said they should be “headed by peace officers. Women also need a platform to put forth their view point.”

Mushtaq Ahmad Lone, a Srinagar-based transporter who was part of one of the delegations, said prolonged strikes called by separatists had caused huge losses.

“We don’t want that our people become militants and pick up guns. A one day strike impacts our business for the next four days, some people are maligning the entire State,” Mr. Lone said.

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