Karat meets PM after 3 years, discusses J&K

After a gap of more than three years, Prime Minister (PM) Manmohan Singh on Saturday greeted a familiar face at his residence who once tried to topple his government — CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat. This is the first personal meeting between the two after the Left pulled out from the Congress-led UPA government in June 2008 over the Indo-US nuclear agreement.

Karat’s last one-on-one meeting with the PM was in 2007 over a breakfast, when the tension between the two sides was mounting. Karat, in his true style, came back and promptly issued a separate statement (after the Prime Minister’s Office issued a communiqué) to announce that his stand remained undiluted. The two, however, had shared a platform at a condolence meeting for Harkishen Singh Surjeet.

On Saturday, the issue was the situation in Kashmir. The meeting lasted half an hour. He was given an appointment at 11.40 am on 7, Race Course Road.

Interestingly, the PM had reached out to Karat a couple of years ago. That time, too, the issue was Jammu & Kashmir. When the Amarnath land row became a major law and order problem after the support withdrawal in 2008, the PM spoke to Karat over telephone and sought suggestions.

Karat, who recently visited the Kashmir valley, handed over a memorandum to the PM. “Given the fact that 66 young men and women have lost their lives due to police firing since June 11, it is imperative that the approach of resorting to firing to control stone-pelting crowds should be stopped forthwith. There has to be a distinction between dealing with stone-pelting youth and tackling militants resorting to terrorist violence,” a statement of the CPI(M) said.

Karat also demanded adequate compensation and rehabilitation for the injured and for those with permanent disabilities. He asked the PM not to keep juvenile prisoners in jail and demanded immediate release of youths who had no serious charge against them.

“Srinagar and other urban centres should be taken out of the Disturbed Areas Act, which will make enforcement of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act redundant. There should be a reduction in the number of security forces deployed in areas that have seen a drastic reduction in militancy. Many bunkers in Srinagar localities manned by the paramilitary forces should be removed,” the CPI(M) said.

Karat also asked for the government’s help to revive trade and other economic activities that have suffered due to continued curfews and hartals for the past two-and-a-half months.

“The prime minister should take a bold initiative for a political dialogue with all sections of the state. Dialogue should be held with all sections without preconditions. The CPI(M) is of the opinion that only by recognising the special status of the state and assuring the Kashmiri people of their identity can a solution be found. This requires a new political framework in which the bedrock is maximum autonomy,” said the party.