All-party delegations asks Kashmiris to shun violence, Centre to adopt confidence building measures

The all-party delegation, chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, on Wednesday urged the Centre to take steps to ensure that education institutions, government offices and commercial establishments in the strife-torn the Kashmir Valley starts functioning normally.

Expressing serious concerns over the prevailing situation in the Valley, the delegation members opined that there should be no place for violence in the civilised society and asked the people of Kashmir valley to shun the path of violence.

"The delegation has appealed to the people of the state to shun the path of violence and resolve all issues through dialogue or discussion. The members have also asked the state government to take steps to ensure that educational institutions, government offices and commercial establishments start functioning normally. The government should take effective steps to ensure the security of citizens and provide medical treatment to the citizens and security personnel injured in the agitation," said Minister of State for Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh.

Singh further stated that the Home Minister is open to discussions with all stakeholders, who have anything to offer or give inputs to restore normalcy in the Valley.

Congress member and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, said that the Centre should formulate short term and long term policies to immediately restore normalcy in the Valley.

"We also asked the government to include those groups who have significant political presence in the state because without holding discussions or without their suggestions, we cannot move forward," Kharge said.

Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury asked the government to adopt dual-track policy for a permanent solution to the unrest.

He also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to start Indo-Pak dialogue during the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit, which is going to take place in Islamabad in November.

"The Central Government should approach dual-track policy; one track should be focused on instilling confidence in the people and implement confidence building measure to weed out separatism. They should give assurances on five issues. One, there should be ban on pellet guns, it seems that an alternative to that, PAVA, shells have arrived and every day a batch is being sent in the state to withdraw from pellet guns. Two, they should provide proper rehabilitation, compensation to the victims of pellet guns. Three, if there is any allegation of excess use of force being implemented, they should investigate. Four, we asked the government to remove AFSPA from civilian areas and also give assurances in the regard. And, despite announcing employment schemes there has been no implementation at all, so announce some avenues to provide employment for Kashmiri youth," said Yechury.

"If the Prime Minister is going to SAARC summit, he should restart Indo-Pak dialogues," he added.

Ahead of the meeting, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag met the Home minister. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi was also present during the meeting.

The development comes as Rajnath Singh yesterday briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the situation in Kashmir after concluding his two-day visit to the state.

The Army Chief will visit Jammu and Kashmir later in the day to review the security situation in the valley.