Demand in J-K Assembly for sustained dialogue process

A group of parliamentarians assisted by legal experts and knowledgeable bureaucrats should initiate the dialogue,he said.

Tarigami urged the state government not to allow the Centre to impose interlocutors for Kashmir dialogue who cannot deliver.

“I think you (chief minister) are the authority and you have to take the initiative,” he said,asking why the disturbed areas act could not be removed from Srinagar city.

He said there was too much hype about the Centre’s eight-point initiative for normalisation of situation in the Valley when most of the decisions could have been taken by the state government.

Tarigami dismissed the suggestion that the present unrest in the Valley had nothing to do with the unemployment problem saying that the youth had pinned their hopes on the employment policy of the state government but were disappointed.

He said the biggest challenge before the Omar Abdullah government was to take the youth along in the decision-making process. “We should create debating clubs and facilitate seminars so that we can get suggestions from the youth,” he said.

BJP member Chaman Lal Gupta said the present crisis is an issue of terrorism and law and order problem which needs to be tackled. There was lack of good governance in the state,he claimed.

National Panthers Party member Harshdev Singh said “half-hearted” steps by the Centre and the state government were responsible for the present situation.

Appreciating the all-party delegation visit to the Valley last month,Singh said unfortunately,the delegation members also met separatists responsible for vitiating the peaceful atmosphere in the state.

“You can’t shake hands with a clenched fist. We will have to make it clear and send a categoric message that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India,” he said.

Singh also opposed the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) saying Jammu and Kashmir was not the only state where it was in vogue.

“It is because of the Army that we are feeling secure in this Assembly. Give me one example of atrocity committed by the Army,” Singh said.

Congress Legislature Party leader Choudhary Mohammad Aslam admitted a political issue existed in Jammu and Kashmir which could be resolved only through dialogue.

Taking on the BJP and NPP,Mir Saifullah of National Conference and Independent member from Langate Sheikh Abdul Rashid said denying the existence of a political problem in the state was adopting an ostrich-like approach.

“A unanimous resolution on the restoration of autonomy was passed by this House. No member from Jammu or Ladakh opposed it,but the then BJP-led NDA government at the Centre rejected it without even looking at it,” he said.

Saifullah said the rejection of autonomy proposal was rejection of the sentiments and expectations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.