New Delhi, August 5
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is learnt to have told a visiting BJP delegation that he would soon call an all-party meeting on
Kashmir issue.
“The PM has assured us of an all-party meeting,” Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj today told The Tribune after a group of BJP legislators from J&K, led by legislative party leader Chaman Lal Gupta met the PM to discuss the crisis.
As the Valley remains under vigil, support for Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has dipped further, with the BJP slamming him as “unpopular”, blaming separatists for the ongoing crisis and warning the Centre against dilution of the presence or authority of security forces in the Valley.
It flayed the decision of conducting inquiries against the Army and forces, which was taken during an all-party meeting chaired by Omar held recently.
“Why conduct inquiries against the Army? The Army is facing stones. You can’t demoralise the forces,” Sushma said, adding Omar had no writ in J&K.
The BJP, however, denied having sought a change in state leadership or even Governor’s rule, but said it reminded the PM of the unanimous resolution passed by Parliament describing Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India.
“Government’s reference to the state’s crisis as a political problem is a diversion from the accepted position,” Gupta
said. On Omar, the party members were particularly fiery today in their memorandum to the PM: “How long can an unpopular CM hold reins of the state when he is unable to reach his people? A section of the Congress Party also seems to have lost confidence in him. There’s personal resentment against him; he appears to be getting alienated from his party cadres and the Government appears clueless in facing the current challenge.”
Blaming the Centre for a faulty Kashmir policy and for thinning security presence in the Valley, the BJP today said removal of forces from Doda, Rajouri, Poonch was a wrong decision.
