Jammu, Kashmir interests will be taken care of: Patil

SRINAGAR: Before flying to the capital on Sunday, home minister Shivraj Patil said the state and central governments will ensure communal harmony in Jammu and Kashmir and efforts would be made to have a solution for the Amarnath land row that it would not hurt either Kashmir or Jammu. He appreciated political parties for rejecting the idea of dividing J&K either on regional or communal basis.

Addressing a crowded news conference after having interaction with political parties Patil said ���concrete suggestions were made by the participants which would be discussed with leaders of the political parties in New Delhi and the state and the central governments.��� The Amarnath yatra, he said, would continue as it has been going on as before.

���We will make efforts to resolve the (land) issue in such a way that it would not hurt the people of Jammu or Kashmir,��� he said. Mr Patil and leaders in the all-party delegation he was leading had a detailed meeting with Shri Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti (SAYSS) that is spearheading the agitation for over 40 days on Saturday. The meeting failed to offer any solution. The Samiti said it would continue its agitation but would keep talking.

Mr Patil said the situation should not be communalised. He did admit occurrence of ���some incidents��� but did not offer any details about the total houses that were burnt during the agitation in Jammu. ���The government is collecting information and it would be shared,��� he said. The state government and MHA would offer compensation in all cases of deaths, injuries and property losses.

The home minister was happy over the unanimity among Kashmir leaders that communal harmony and brotherhood in J&K would be maintained at all costs. Parties whose leaders spoke in the interaction with the all-party meeting include Congress, BJP, CPM CPI, PDP, NC, RJD, JD(U), NCP, SP and LJSP.

The delegation included Mohsina Kidwai, Raguvanash Prasad Singh, Saifuddin Soz Prithvi Raj Chouhan, Arun Jaitley, Amar Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Farooq Abdullah, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, Sitaram Yechury, D Raja, Ram Chander Paswan, Naresh Gujraj, Akhtar Hussain Rizvi and K C Tyagi.

The delegation was briefed about the crisis and its aftermath by senior officials who also informed them about the current status of the vehicular movement on the Srinagar-Jammu highway. Amar Singh of the Samajwadi Party told reporters that the situation has been totally communalised. The Amarnath yatra, he said, is impossible without the help of local Muslims who have been conducting it for the last 200 years. Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and D Raja said any solution needs to take care of both the sides.

Both said communal forces were whipping up the issue and need to be checked. ���We will be submitting our report to the Centre, in which we will offer possible solutions���, Mr Yechury said.
Meanwhile Jammu is relatively calm. Barring Poonch curfew restrictions continue almost in all curfew bound areas including Rajouri, Samba, Jammu, Kathua and Udhampur.