Jammu, Publish Date: Nov 8 2017
Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee chief G A Mir today said the party would seek answers from the Centre’s special representative for Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, about his mandate and the purpose of holding a dialogue with various stakeholders in the state.
Sharma, who is on a five-day visit of the state, will meet the JKPCC chief today.
“We are meeting the interlocutor (in Srinagar) and we would like to ask him whether he had come to deal with the law and order situation (in Kashmir) as a policeman to gain short-term peace or his efforts are aimed at finding a long- term solution (to Kashmir problem),” Mir told reporters here.
“The Congress is the only party which dealt successfully with various issues like Punjab, Assam and Manipur. As far as Kashmir is concerned, the Congress kept its doors open for a dialogue and even initiated talks in the past,” he said while referring to the 1975 accord between former prime minister Indira Gandhi and National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.
The state Congress chief said the former prime minister brought Sheikh into the mainstream after 22 years of struggle to give a stable government to the people of the state.
He said the stand of the Congress is that the dialogue is the only way forward to resolve issues and welcomed the “BJP’s U-turn” after coming to the conclusion that “stick and gun” is not the only answer.
“The BJP, after coming to power, used different language but three years later it came to the conclusion that stick and gun is not the answer and took the route of a dialogue which we welcome. The Congress has never made a U-turn and dealt with issues through a stable policy and approach,” he said.
Mir said his meeting with Sharma would focus on the roadmap and the purpose of his dialogue.
“We are not meeting (Sharma) for the sake of it. We have some questions which the BJP has failed to answer. We will seek the roadmap for the dialogue, the purpose of the talks and with whom he is holding the talks,” he said.
The JKPCC chief alleged that the BJP is putting a veil on the initiative deliberately to mislead the people of the country.
“This veil needs to be unveiled to make things clear. We would like to know whether he is engaged in indirect talks with anyone as well,” he said.
