MPs reach out to top Kashmir separatists

The separatist Hurriyat leaders may have wanted to have nothing to do with the visiting all-party delegation led by the Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, having announced their decision to not meet it.

But all didn’t seem lost as some delegation members reached out to both Hurriyat hardliner, Mr Syed Ali Shah Geelani, as also its moderate face, Mr Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and met them within hours of landing here.

And thus were taken a few tentative but significant steps in at least trying to have some sort of engagement with the separatists and also the moderates during the extremely troubled times that the Kashmir Valley has been witnessing over the last three months.

Over 100 people have died in the Valley since early June, a majority of them young boys in their teens even as violence in the Valley continues unabated. Some delegation members also called on the JKLF chief, Mr Yasin Malik, who too had declared on Monday morning that he would not meet the all-party team.

While the PDP leader, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, stayed away from the meeting, a delegation from her party did go and demanded “out-of-the-box thinking” to resolve the Kashmir problem.

Earlier, the 39-member delegation led by Mr Chidambaram arrived here on Monday in what is being touted as a bid by the political class to ascertain the ground situation in the turmoil-ridden Kashmir Valley.

The delegation probably had the first taste of the situation as it travelled through deserted streets of curfew-bound Srinagar.

While the Hurriyat hawk, Mr Geelani had announced his decision to not participate in the all-party meeting some days ago, Mr Mirwaiz had announced it only on Monday morning along with Mr Yasin Malik, both having got the invitation only on Sunday evening.

Ironically, both Mr Geelani and Mr Mirwaiz are now under house arrest.