New Delhi, August 12
The all-party delegation, which visited the trouble-torn state of Jammu and Kashmir last week, has made a strong case for initiating a dialogue with
mainstream political parties from the valley and the Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti spearheading the ongoing agitation in Jammu in order to find a solution acceptable to both sides. However, it is not clear if the Hurriyat Conference will be invited and whether it will accept the invitation for talks.
This suggestion emerged at a meeting of the all-party delegation, convened by home minister Shivraj Patil today to hammer out a consensus on a solution to the worsening situation in the state.
Prithviraj Chavan, minister of state in the PMO, felt the government should keep out of the process. He said the task should be entrusted with a high-level committee comprising eminent citizens and NGOs.
Akali Dal representative Naresh Gujral is learnt to have suggested that in order to bring the two sides to the table for talks, the government should publicly announce that the controversial orders allotting and then cancelling the land to the Amarnath Shrine Board were being kept in abeyance and that an appeal be issued to both sides to “suspend” their agitation.
Meanwhile, the Centre is mulling a special compensation package for those who have suffered losses in the state because of the
month-long agitation.
This will be in addition to the compensation the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to announce for victims of police firing in Jammu and the valley.
The economic package is aimed at mollifying fruit growers in the valley who have been complaining that their produce was rotting, with the trucks carrying the fruit stranded on the national highway.
Similarly, the
package will compensate those in Jammu whose business has been hit because
ff the protests. Talking to mediapersons, home minister Patil said the government had taken steps to facilitate trade across the line of control, but Pakistan “has to first allow its movement.”
