Manmohan, Yadav discuss proposed Kashmir conclave

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh and senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav today held talks about holding a national conclave of stakeholders in Kashmir, which is in ferment since the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani last July.

Amid the ongoing unrest in the valley, BJP veteran and former union minister Yashwant Sinha, who had gone there as part of a delegation twice, and met separatist leaders among others, also had talks with Yadav.

Yadav has also discussed the proposed conclave with CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury and D Raja of the CPI and both were learnt to have favoured such a move.

The Modi government had chosen to ignore the visit and report of the delegation which included Sinha, prompting the former external affairs minister to get in touch with opposition leaders to explore the possibility of holding a national conclave to discuss ways to restore peace in the troubled state.

Yadav too had gone to the valley as a member of an all-party delegation but the dominant view among opposition leaders is that the government has done nothing on its report.

"The government has not taken a single step to resolve the crisis. We too have responsibilities. If the government does not act, we must do our bit," an opposition leader said.

He said an initiative must be taken in Delhi to send out a positive message to the people in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sinha's group had recommended a "multi-dimensional dialogue" which should include the separatist conglomerate-- Hurriyat Conference.

It had, in its report, also asked the government to improve the human rights situation.
The delegation's visit was facilitated by Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation, a Delhi based group that has been working in Kashmir for over a decade.

The government had last month ruled out talks with separatist elements or those raising the issues of "accession or Azadi" in the Kashmir Valley, telling the Supreme Court that a dialogue to restore normalcy was possible only with legally recognised stakeholders.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had told the court that the government would come to the negotiation table only if legally recognised stakeholders participated in the dialogue and not the separatist elements who rake up the issue of accession or Azadi in Kashmir.

The top had court asked the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association to come up with suggestions to resolve the crisis, including the stone-pelting incidents and the violent street protests in the valley.

The opposition leaders are working to bring NGOs, civil society groups and political parties for the proposed conclave. Members of Jammu and Kashmir's ruling BJP-PDP coalition are also likely to be invited, the opposition leader said.

Manmohan Singh heads a policy planning group of the Congress party on Jammu and Kashmir. The Congress has been strongly critical of the Modi government's handling of the situation in the restive state.