In an attempt to tame the demon of violence in Kashmir valley through political initiative, Home Minister Rajnath Singh will embark on a two-day visit to Jammu & Kashmir on Wednesday. The announcement of Rajnath’s visit came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi lamented the “death of our own people” in the State due to violence and called for a political solution to the ongoing crisis.
The visit is seen as a culmination of the initiative undertaken by former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who led a delegation of Opposition parties for a back-to-back meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee and the Prime Minister on Sunday and Monday. During his meetings, Omar and the Opposition leaders stressed that the current volatile situation in Kashmir called for a political solution and it cannot be resolved by a developmental package or by application of force.
After reaching Srinagar, Rajnath Singh is expected to review the situation with heads of security forces. He might also hold talks with a cross-section of people. Briefing reporters, Singh said the Central Government will talk to whosoever is needed, once peace and normalcy is restored in the State. “As far as the Government of India is concerned, I want to make it clear that we don’t just want need-based ties, but to build an emotional relationship with Kashmir,” he said, reaching out to the people in the Valley while making a fervent appeal to them to help restore peace and normalcy in the State.
This is the second visit of Singh in a month to Kashmir which has been witnessing unrest since July 8 when Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces. As many as 65 people, including two policemen, have been killed and several thousands, including policemen, were injured so far in different incidents of violence.
Meanwhile, the Congress made a strong pitch for initiating talks to calm the situation in the State which is on the boil for the past 45 days.
“The PM should initiate talks. Unless they take a step forward, the situation in J&K won’t improve,” the party tweeted, quoting leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad. Former Home Minister P Chidambaram too rooted for an all-party delegation to Kashmir.
Chidambaram said the meeting between a delegation of J&K Opposition parties and the PM on Monday must be welcomed. “Yesterday’s meeting between PM & J&K Opposition parties: If it is the first sign of fresh thinking, we must welcome it. Next step should be sending an all-party delegation to J&K,” the senior Congress leader said on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
On Monday, while meeting a joint Opposition delegation, Modi had expressed his “deep concern and pain” over the situation there and asked all political parties to work together to find a “permanent and lasting” solution to the problems in J&K.
Meanwhile, Border Security Force (BSF), which was deployed in Srinagar on Monday after a gap of 12 years, occupied several school buildings there to set up camps. The force occupied buildings of Government and semi-Government schools like SP Higher Secondary at MA Road near lal Chowk and DAVP School at Jawahar Nagar, said BSF officials.
With unrest continuing in Kashmir the Centre has rushed 26 companies (about 2,600 personnel) of BSF to the Valley. These forces have been drawn from Gujarat, Rajasthan and West Bengal.
An additional 30 companies (about 3,000 personnel) of the force are also expected to be sent to the Valley in the next few days after their withdrawal from Amarnath Yatra duties. The officials said the BSF would assist the State police and paramilitary CRPF in maintaining law and order in the Valley. The force will also strengthen the counter-terror grid, the officials said.
The BSF, which conducted anti-militancy operations in Kashmir for nearly 13 years from 1991, was replaced in the city by the CRPF in 2004. It was taken off from counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir in 2004 and was moved to their primary duty of guarding the borders. This is for the first time since 2004 that the force has been called for active duty in the city.