Jammu, May 26
While the APHC leadership wishes to see Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s commitment made during the second roundtable conference translated into action, the BJP unit in Jammu and Kashmir continues to be “pessimistic” of the soft stance of the state and the Central governments towards militants.

According to state BJP chief Nirmal Singh, the second roundtable conference was “yet another futile exercise” adding that there was nothing wrong in the state-Centre relations. He said if there was anything wrong it was “with the governance”.

A senior APHC leader Molvi Abbas Ansari said today “whatever the Prime Minister stated during the roundtable conference regarding release of detainees, re-entry of those kashmiri boys who had crossed over to Pakistan in 1990 and zero tolerance for human rights violations by the security forces were part of Hurriyat demands presented to Dr Manmohan Singh nine months ago.”

He said “I am pessimistic on the matter because during the last nine months the Prime Minister had not seen to it that some of our demands were also conceded.”

Molvi Ansari said that if the Centre wanted the situation to improve it should take in hand measures for implementing the assurances given by the Prime Minister.” He said Dr Manmohan Singh “is a sincere politician ,but people around him, especially bureaucrats create problems.”

The BJP vice-president, Prof. Hari Om, told newsmen in Jammu today that the outcome of the second roundtable conference demonstrated that the Prime Minister had “made a common cause with the votaries of self-rule and greater autonomy ,which was an accommodation of viewpoints of those who had scant regard for the secular, democratic and constitutional framework of India.”

The BJP leader said that the decision of setting up of a working group for reviewing Centre-state relations so that a concrete shape was given to divisive and communally motivated ideas of self-rule and autonomy.

He said that the BJP’s decision to stay away from the RTC had been vindicated because the message of the Prime Minister during the conference had left nothing for Jammu and Ladakh regions besides the displaced Kashmiri Hindus. Prof. Hari Om said that another message from the RTC indicated that the Centre was in favour of putting more restrictions on the security forces who were engaged in defending the country’s integrity. He said instead a message should have gone to the security forces “to crush militants.”

He questioned the decision of issuing migrant cards to kashmiri migrants ,when their rehabilitation should have received priority at the RTC .

Party president Nirmal Singh, said that people in the state have seen over the years the setting up of commissions and committees, without their recommendations being implemented. He said that “the recommendations of the working groups would also meet the same fate.”

On the other hand Molvi Ansari said that in the interest of peace in Kashmir ,the government should concentrate on the dialogue process. And it would be a fruitful exercise if the Centre translated into action Prime Minister’s assurances on the release of detainees,o n examining the cases of those boys who had strayed into Pakistan and wanted to return to Kashmir, end to excesses by the security forces and gradual withdrawal of troops from the state.

Srinagar, May 26
The bodies of four tourists killed in a grenade attack were flown to Gujarat in a special Army plane from here today, official sources said.

Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad accompanied the bereaved families of the slain tourists — three children and a girl — to the airport, the sources said.

The four tourists were killed and six others injured when militants hurled a grenade inside a bus carrying them in the Batapora locality of Zakoora near here, yesterday. —PTI