Opposition pitches for talks with Hurriyat

After a meeting held by the government to brief the MPs who are part of the 30-member delegation, leaders from Congress and CPI(M) said all stakeholders should be approached during the two-day visit of the delegation to Jammu and Kashmir beginning on Sunday. 

“Government should invite Hurriyat for talks with the all-party delegation.... The invitation extended to others should be given to Hurriyat also. It is up to them whether they want to meet the delegation,” CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said. 

Yechury said government should make “tangible” announcement like a ban on pellet guns, withdrawal of AFSPA from civilian areas and rehabilitation and compensation package for those who lost their lives in recent violence as a follow up of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement of taking peace initiative. 

The delegation will interact with individuals and groups aiming to bring peace in the valley, which has been facing unrest following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani in an encounter on July 8. 

Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the UPA is open to holding dialogue with all stakeholders. 

“We have said that the option of dialogue should be open to all stakeholders. Government should open the dialogue with all stakeholders. The Centre and the state government know who the stake holders are. They have to identify the stakeholders and invite them,” he said in the presence of Tariq Anwar of NCP, a UPA constituent. 

Use of chilli-filled grenades as an alternative to pellet guns, which will be used in rarest of rare cases, was cleared on Saturday by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh for crowd control ahead of the visit of an all-party delegation to restive Kashmir on Sunday. 

The Home Minister cleared the file for use of Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl Amide (PAVA) also called Nonivamide as an alternative to the pellet guns, official sources said. 

They said as many as 1,000 shells would be reaching the Kashmir valley by Sunday. 

Pellet guns are, however, unlikely to be banned completely but will be used in “rarest of rare cases”, they said.