The members of visiting All party Parliamentary Delegation today reached out directly to some of the common people affected by the recent unrest in Kashmir valley. A group of members of the delegation including the Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj visited some of the injured in a Srinagar hospital. Another group led by Home Minister P Chidambram and state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah visited Tangmarg town that saw some of the worst clashes recently. The all party parliamentary delegation also visited the Hazratbal shrine to have assessment of the ground situation in Kashmir.The delegation will be holding discussions with political parties and social groups besides other stake holders in Jammu later this afternoon on the second day of its visit to Jammu and Kashmir. On the first day the delegation exchanged views with Political parties both in the mainstream politics and out side it to take the Kashmir peace mission forward. During their interactions yesterday all stake holders urged the Centre to reach out to all sections of people and intensify the dialogue process to restore peace and order in the State. In their interactions, the National Conference renewed its demand for autonomy, the PDP called for out of box solution and the Congress stressed on an unconventional approach to restore peace and address the aspirations of people.The delegation also met student groups, traders, fruit growers and trade union leaders to seek their views. Moderate Hurriyat Conference and JKLF in a joint memorandum called for a result oriented dialogue to find a lasting solution to the Kashmir issue. Some members of the delegation met Yasin Malik, Maulvi Umar Farooq and hard line Hurriyat Cheif Syed Ali Shah Geelani to seek their support for the peace mission. The Chief Minister Mr. Omar Abdullah has described this gesture by the members of the delegation as significant and an important step to reach out to the people of the valley. The BJP has however said that the decision of some members of the delegation to meet people outside mainstream politics was not a collective one. Leaders of the prominent political parties who are part of the delegation include Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley of the BJP, Basudev Acharia and Sitaram Yechury of the CPIM, Gurudas Dasgupta of the CPI and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and LJP leader Ramvilas Paswan.
News On AIR | September 21, 2010 1:44 PM
All party delegation reaches out to common people