Sent Opposition MPs to speak to Hurriyat, convey we are ready to talk peace: Rajnath Singh

“There were senior leaders like Sharad Yadav (of the JDU) and from the Left parties (in the delegation),’’ he said. “I told them that we are from the BJP and the Hurriyat people do not like us and they get irritated on seeing us. You talk to them and tell them that we are ready to talk, but there shall be peace in Kashmir.’’

“After asking me, Sharad Yadav and some Left leaders visited the Hurriyat Conference leaders, but they shut their doors on them, saying they will not talk with senior MPs of our country,’’ the Defence Minister said.

While the Narendra Modi government has always showcased its tough stand against separatists, this is the first acknowledgement from the Centre that it tried to reach out to them in 2016 when Kashmir was witnessing large scale protests following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani in an encounter.

During the all-party delegation’s visit to the state in the first week of September 2016, which came in the wake of violence in the Valley that left 72 people dead, four Opposition MPs – JD(U)’s Sharad Yadav, CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury, CPI’s D Raja and RJD’s Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav – broke away from the 26-member group and visited the Srinagar residence of hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who was under house arrest. Geelani, however, snubbed them and did not even open the doors.

At the time, Singh had said that the MPs had visited on their own. “I want to clarify that some members of the all-party delegation went to meet Hurriyat leaders. Neither did we say yes, nor did we say no. Whatever happened, you know about it. I do not wish to go into the details,” he had told reporters.

“But whatever information those friends gave us upon their return, it can be said it was not Kashmiriyat (Kashmiri value system). It cannot be called insaniyat (humanity). When someone goes for talks and they reject it, it is not jamhooriyat (democracy) as well,” he had said.

When contacted on Sunday, Raja told The Indian Express that he does not remember Singh telling them that they should meet the Hurriyat leaders as the latter may not meet the BJP leaders. “As part of the all-party delegation… the understanding was that the members are free to meet anyone we want and hear them out. And we went,” the CPI general secretary said.

In his address on Sunday, Singh also referred to registration of FIRs against Kashmiri youth involved in stone pelting following the killing Burhan Wani.

“There were cases against young and innocent children and there were repeated demands from the people to withdraw the cases,’’ Singh said, adding that he then spoke to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and allowed her to withdraw such cases.

“We did everything that could be done with an open heart to restore peace in the Valley, but they (separatists) did not respond the way they should have,’’ he said.

Referring to NC leader Omar Abdullah’s statement that Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru should not have been hanged, Singh asked whether he should have been publicly garlanded. “I want a reply from you (Omar) as to what should have been done to him,’’ he said.

Singh also said that recently an affidavit was filed by Pakistan’s additional solicitor general in the neighboring country stating that PoK is a foreign land. “I want to tell PoK residents that Pakistan considers you foreigners, but the people in India do not consider you so. We consider you our own and so come and join us,” he said.

Talking about changes in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, the Defence Minister urged the people to give BJP a chance to form the government in J&K. That will bring a big change in J&K in the next 10 years, he said.

The minister also criticised the NC and Congress for talking of restoring Article 370. No one has the courage to bring it back, he said.

With inputs from ENS, Srinagar & New Delhi