Hurriyat leaders lost golden opportunity by not participating in talks: Rahul Jalali

Criticising the Hurriyat Conference leaders for refusing to participate in the talks with the all-party delegation, Press Club of India (PCI) president and senior journalist Rahul Jalali has said the Hurriyat leaders lost a golden opportunity by not participating in the talks and not meeting parliamentarians who visited thier houses.

"Well it's really unfortunate that the Hurriyat Conference has lost a golden opportunity. It's not only a question of Mehbooba's invitation to them, but the fact that a number of opposition leaders went to their homes, they were not even allowed entry, which goes against the grain Kashmir's hospitality not even a glass of water was given to them. The entire Parliament was there and they brought with them the mandate of the country of the Indian Parliament so Hurriyat should have taken it far more seriously than what they did and that's very unfortunate," he said.

He further said that the all-party delegation, which will visit Jammu, should give time to the people to address their concerns, including the issue of Pakistan displaced refugees, who are seeking Indian citizen status.

"The all-party delegation which will be in Jammu should give as much time to the people of Jammu as well as delegations which might come from Ladakh to meet them as they did in Kashmir, because there are so many issues concerning people here, including the issue of Pakistan-displaced refugees who would be asking for a permanent resident status," he said.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Janata Dal (United) member Sharad Yadav, CPI leader D. Raja and CPI (M) MLA Yousuf Tarigami, all of them parts of the all-party delegation, had gone to meet the separatist leaders on Sunday.

But the Hurriyat leaders did not held talks with the delegation members.

"We met Mirwaiz Umar Farooq; we met Shabir Shah; and then we met professor Abdul Gani Bhat; the leaders of Hurriyat, all of them, said they had decided not to talk on the issue," Yechury said.

The Home Minister chaired the meeting of all-party delegation which was attended by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.

During the meeting, a detailed presentation was given by the state government highlighting various issues related to the current scenario in Jammu and Kashmir.

The all-party delegation also met the representatives of various political parties. Various political parties expressed their concern over the injuries to civilians due to the use of pellet guns.

The Union Home Minister said that government is already working on the alternatives to pellet guns such as PAVA shells.