Begins five-day visit to state; to also meet Governor, CM
Dineshwar Sharma, Centre’s representative for sustained dialogue in Jammu and Kashmir, arrived in Srinagar today and started the process of talks and reconciliation in the volatile Valley which has been reeling under bloodletting and uncertainty for the past three decades.
His search for peace and dialogue started from the Hari Niwas Palace where several delegations came to meet him. According to sources, the delegations said their prime interest was in peace in Kashmir and needed hand-holding. They hoped that the interlocutor would help them in doing so because there were various view points which need to be heard and acted upon.
Two weeks after his appointment as the Centre’s representative to hold dialogue with all stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir “to end cycle of violence and uncertainty,” Sharma started his work from the word go. He met with nine delegations and many more were in the queue.
Sharma, a former chief of the Intelligence Bureau, who had also worked in Kashmir during the early 1990s in early years of militancy, arrived here around noon on a five-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir.
During the course of his stay, he would interact with various delegations of political parties, business community, students and youth. He will be staying in Kashmir for three days and in Jammu for two days.
Sharma would also be meeting Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for an overall assessment of the situation in the state.
On his arrival in the city, Sharma drove to the Hari Niwas Palace on Gupkar Road here, overlooking the Dal Lake.
The delegations which met him included Gujjar and Bakerwals Conference led by Mohammad Yusuf Poswal; Student Association, Pattan; Youth Sports Fraternity led by Mohammad Yousuf; Youth Sports Forum, Qamarwari (Srinagar); City FM owner Tariq Bhat; Peace Forum, Ganderbal, led by Peer Mohammad Yusuf; Shikara Association and Youth Forum, Kupwara.
Separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik had rejected talks offer earlier. However, Geelani on Saturday said the Hurriyat favoured “meaningful and result-oriented negotiations.”
On Twitter, CM hopeful of resolution
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday expressed optimism over the initiation of the dialogue process. “The hope of resolution via dialogue has been rekindled in J&K,” she tweeted a few hours after Dineshwar Sharma landed in Srinagar
Mehbooba hoped that all parties and organisations, in an obvious pointer to separatists, would take the opportunity of being part of the peace process
“I am optimistic that parties and organisations in J&K will not miss this opportunity to be a part of peace parleys,” Mehboonba wrote
To have dialogue with all: Govt
Maintaining that the appointment of Dineshwar Sharma as the interlocutor for the state was a welcome step, the J&K Government on Monday said he would be having a sustained dialogue with all
“Whatever be the stand of any party or individual, he (Dineshwar Sharma) will have a sustained dialogue with everybody,” official spokesman of the J&K Government Naeem Akhtar told reporters
“The mandate of the interlocutor is sustained dialogue. This means that despite whatever people may say, dialogue will happen,” he added
