New Delhi, April 1
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed will meet Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee tomorrow to discuss the situation in the state in the wake of the massacre of 24 Kashmiri Pandits in the valley.
Mufti Sayeed is likely to brief the Prime Minister about the steps taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.
The meeting comes only days ahead of Mr Vajpayee’s visit to the Kashmir valley.
The Chief Minister will also apprise the Prime Minister of the progress made regarding the development projects in the state.
The two leaders are expected to discuss the formation of the proposed special group being constituted to review the existing macro-strategies of the security forces and intelligence agencies in the state.
Mufti Sayeed met a number of Kashmiri Pandit delegations today and assured them of adequate security in the valley. The Chief Minister said that there was no pressure on him to review the “healing touch policy” and the Centre government understood its positive implications.
The Chief Minister said Pandits were scattered around at 271 places across the valley making them “soft targets” for terrorists.
He admitted that “some migration” had taken place after the massacre but hoped that the Kashmiri Pandits would return. Migration would not be encouraged. Incentives would not be given to those who stay back, the Chief Minister added.
The delegation, which included All-India Kashmiri Pandit Conference president H N Jattu and Kashmiri Pandit United Forum B.L. Khachroo, said the Pandits living in the valley should not migrate.
A delegation of Pandits will soon visit various places inhabited by the community members in the valley to assess the situation and boost their morale.
On the government’s “healing touch policy,” Kashmiri Pandits leaders said only innocent and not killers should be released.
Stating that Pandits were “willing and eager” to return to their motherland, the leaders said the state government needed to create proper security environment.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister will visit the state for two days from April 18, nearly a year after he announced in Srinagar an economic package of Rs 6,165 crore for the development of the insurgency-hit state.
Highly placed sources said here that Mr Vajpayee will inaugurate the North-South Corridor project in Kashmir on April 18.
