No role for Kashmir panel anymore, insists Bhan

When Ram Jethmalani shows the door to the lone ‘‘Kashmiri’’ member of his Kashmir Committee, he should expect someone to...

When Ram Jethmalani shows the door to the lone ‘‘Kashmiri’’ member of his Kashmir Committee, he should expect someone to hit back at him.

Former convenor Ashok Bhan, who had earned Jethmalani’s wrath for suggesting that Kashmir Committee had become redundant with the appointment of N.N. Vohra as Centre’s interlocuter, insists there is no role for Jethmalani’s outfit.

Taking a dig at Jethmalani, Bhan said: ‘‘For the outsiders (non-Kashmiris), dabbling in Kashmir makes news and some people are known to love that.’’

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Bhan, a Supreme Court lawyer, says his differences with Jethmalani had cropped up on the issue of the committee’s proposal to interact with the government-controlled Kashmir Committee of Pakistan.

Talking to The Indian Express, Bhan claimed some other members too were not happy with his decision to seek talks with the Kashmir committee of Pakistan. ‘‘Kashmiris have been victims of violence unleashed by people who are heading the Kashmir committee in PoK and why should we speak to them,’’ he said.

Bhan says the Kashmir Committee had started as a pressure group to force New Delhi to get into a dialouge with Kashmiris. With Government appointing Vohra, Bhan claims, ‘‘the committee would only look as a parallel body and achieve nothing.’’

Jethmalani, who recently sought talks between India and Pakistan has announced to go ahead with his Kashmir mission. He had called Bhan after the latter went public with his opinion and sought his resignation.

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Bhan demanded that ‘‘views of Kashmiris be taken more seriously while making any efforts at peace in Kashmir.’’ He rued that ‘‘a large number of outsiders are getting involved in Kashmir without undestanding the nuances of this situation and the trend needs to be discouraged.’’