STATE TIMES NEWS
New Delhi: Even as Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is scheduled to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Saturday to discuss the situation in the Valley, which has been under curfew for past 48 days following death HM terrorist Burhan Wani, an all party delegation is likely to visit Kashmir on September 1.
The meeting comes close on the heels of a clear message from the Centre to the Chief Minister to control the growing unrest in the State.
According to official sources, Mehbooba has been conveyed in no uncertain terms that there was a need for putting an end to the cycle of violence which has claimed 67 lives so far in the protest.
This is the first meeting between the Prime Minister and Mehbooba after the unrest broke in the Valley on July 8.
Mehbooba has been under fire for failing to control the violence as the Centre has made it clear that law and order was a state subject.
Earlier this week, Modi had a meeting with a delegation of Opposition parties from the State led by former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and expressed his “deep concern and pain” over the situation in the Valley. He had asked all political parties to work together to find a “permanent and lasting” solution to problems in the state.
He had also made an appeal for restoration of normalcy in the Valley and emphasised that there has to be a dialogue.
Mehbooba has strongly defended security forces action on Thursday during a press conference and had said “People came on streets, we imposed curfew. Did the children go to army camps to buy toffees (candy)? Was the 15-year-old boy, who attacked the police station at Damhal Hanjipora (in south Kashmir), going there to get milk…”
She had said “Today 95 per cent who have been killed are youngsters belonging to poor families. They were killed in retaliation for attacking security camps… The situations of 2010 and present cannot be compared.”
Meanwhile, an all party Parliamentary delegation is likely to visit Jammu and Kashmir in the first week of September and meet a cross section of people, amidst the ongoing unrest in Kashmir Valley.
Government will consult all political parties before finalising an itinerary for the tour aimed at restoring peace in the Kashmir Valley, which is witnessing violent protests.
The move comes after Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced in Srinagar yesterday that he had asked Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to make preparation for the visit.
The facilitation of the all party delegation to the troubled state is considered to be an attempt by the government to bring the political parties on board of the process initiated to bring peace in Jammu and Kashmir.
There has been feeling in the government that unrest continues for too long — 48 days — and normalcy needs to be restored as early as possible.
The Home Minister’s two-day visit on August 24-25 to the restive Kashmir for the second time in a month was part of Centre’s outreach.
Singh had said that the central government was willing to talk to anyone on the problems faced in Jammu and Kashmir within the ambit of ‘Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat’.
