PDP chief may not meet all-party team

Addressing a press conference here, Mehbooba strongly condemned the re-imposition of curfew on the Valley after a few hours of relaxation on Saturday. “The curfew was re-imposed to sabotage the purpose of the visit of the delegation,” she alleged.

Mehbooba said there was no justification for reimposing the curfew since the situation had remained peaceful in  most areas during the curfew relaxation and even Syed Ali Shah Geelani, chairman of the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference, had asked the people to resume normal work for a day on Sunday.

Mehbooba alleged the re-imposition of curfew was to prevent common people from meeting the delegation and apprise it of the real situation here. “Because of the curfew and restrictions, even our leaders, including MLAs, are unable to reach offices and discuss the strategy. If the situation continued like this, we will reconsider our decision to meet the all-party delegation,” she said.

PDP president said the delegation must try to reach out to leaders of the parties who represent the voice of dissent. “Even a unilateral attempt on this front could prove worth while,” she said.

According to the PDP president, there was an officially enforced virtual economic blockade in place. “The farmers are prevented in many areas from harvesting paddy. Even their tools are being seized. Fruit picking and transportation is being stalled from all major fruit-producing areas like Sopore, Baramulla and Shopian. Supplies of essential commodities are stopped by force. Medical facilities have been shut down even for emergencies,” she said.

Sixteen lakh mobile connections in north Kashmir districts of Baramulla, Bandipore and Kupwara continued to be disabled for over two months apart from the suspended SMS service in the entire state, Mehbooba said. Similarly, news blackout continued unabated.  
“All the newspapers and local channels have been closed for over a week and people are being pushed to an extreme position,” she said.
DH News Service