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| 'Govt for talks with all shades of pol opinion in J&K' |
| Press Trust of India / Srinagar Oct 14, 2009, 12:03 IST |
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Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today announced that the government will hold dialogue with all shades of political opinion to formulate contours of a solution in Jammu and Kashmir, but made it clear that the talks would be held away from the media glare.
"We will hold dialogue with every shade of political opinion in Jammu and Kashmir to find a solution in a civilised way. The dialogue will not be in full media glare. It will be a quiet dialogue. It will be through quiet diplomacy," he said.
He was answering a volley of questions on steps being taken by the government to resolve the Kashmir issue at a press conference here.
Chidambaram said political parties like National Conference, PDP and Congress have a point of view and the effort would be to hold talks with all shades of political opinion, including some political groups advocating separatism, to arrive at the contours of a political solution which may be unique.
Such a solution, he said, should be "honourable and acceptable" to the vast majority of the people in Jammu and Kashmir.
Acknowledging that there was a "problem" in J-K, Chidambaram refused to get into "verbal gymnastics" on the dialogue issue, but said effort will be made to find a political solution after consulting every shade of political opinion.
The solution could be "unique" given the history and the geography of the state, he said.
On the security scenario in the border state, he said the Jammu and Kashmir police, backed by paramilitary forces, will be responsible for maintenance of peace.
Army's role, he said, is to defend the borders — international border as also the Line of Control (LoC).
Asserting that the violence in J-K could be solely attributed to the infiltration taking place from Pakistani territory and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the Home Minister said there has been significant successes on the part of the security forces in the last few months in stopping infiltration from across the border.
Authorities across the border were recruiting young men and brainwashing them to pursue Jehad and create mayhem in India, he said. But, the security forces were doing "better and better" to contain the influx of terrorists into the country.
According to statistics, so-called militant commanders were being neutralised in six months to a year's time by the security forces who were all out to reduce infiltration to the barest minimum, he said.
On the issue of Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which was in operation in J-K and parts of the north east, he said amendments to it were awaiting Cabinet's nod and once given legislative approval, it would be applicable throughout the country.
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