All-party delegation led by PC arrives in Kashmir

SRINAGAR: An all-party delegation led by Home Minister P Chidambaram arrived here on Monday on a two-day visit to assess the ground situation in Kashmir Valley which has witnessed unabated violence in recent months.

Some members of the 42-member delegation are likely to call on hardline Hurriyat leader Sye Ali Shah Geelani at his Hyderpora residence here.

Though Geelani has officially refused to meet them, he said the delegation members will not be turned away if they decide to call on him at his house as they were guests.

The separatists have given mixed signals to the visit of the delegation. While the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF led by Mohammad Yasin Malik has said that they will hold joint consultations to decide whether to meet the delegation, the hardline faction led by Geelani has decided to boycott it.

The delegation hopes that the leaders of various separatist groups will finally come for the talks to help break the impasse in Kashmir which has witnessed unabated violence over the last few months claiming over 100 lives.

The opposition PDP had yesterday threatened to reconsider its participation, accusing the Jammu and Kashmir government of "sabotaging" the visit by clamping curfew in the Valley.

"If the repressive measures continue, we will have to reconsider our decision (of being part of the all-party initiative)," PDP president Mehbooba Mufti had said.

She had said there was no purpose in the visit of the all-party delegation if the members of the civil society, those raising the voice of dissent and the common people are not allowed to meet it.

Dismissing the PDP charge as misleading and baseless, Jammu and Kashmir Law Minister Ali Mohammad had said it was surprising that it was all praise for the all-party initiative two days ago but has suddenly changed its stand.

"I do not know what has changed in two days. I will leave it to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to decide who is trying to scuttle the visit of the delegation."

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah rejecting the demand for his resignation said without naming any party that those behind it were "some frustrated political elements who failed to make it to the Government in the 2008 elections".