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MPs feel political solution imperative for Kashmir New Delhi, September 22 Home minister P Chidambaram, who was heading the delegation, is expected to brief Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the visit before which he is expected to call a meeting of the panel members to fine-tune their observations. As decided at the all-party meeting called by the Prime Minister last week, the Centre’s road map ahead on Kashmir will be based on the inputs provided by this delegation. Although there is no expectation of “any spectacular results”, the delegation members believe the visit had helped to assuage the feelings of people and will begin the process of healing which had become imperative following the continuing violence in the Valley in which over 100 lives have been lost in the past three months. “To that extent,the two-day meeting has served its purpose...it has sent a positive message to the people,” remarked Parliamentary Affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who was a member of the all-party delegation adding that the objective of this visit was to tell the people of Kashmir have occupied the space vacated by the politicians with hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani calling the shots. The collapse of the civil administration, the unending curfew and the yawning gap between Omar Abdullah and his own party cadres have only worsened the situation.This, according to delegation members, was evident from their meetings with political parties, civil society groups, academics and students who referred to the breakdown in the administrative machinery, the growing alienation among the people, the overpowering presence of the security forces and the urgent need for a political solution to their longstanding grievances. There were demands for the withdrawal of the security forces from the state, greater autonomy and “azadi’ and at the same time, people expressed their frustration at the lack of development asking the Centre to set up more public sector undertakings in the state. The demand for azadi and autonomy were, however, countered by another section,especially in Jammu, who reiterated that there should be no dilution in the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and that if the Centre was to look favourably at giving greater autonomy, it should apply equally to all three regions of Jammu, Kashmir Valley and Ladakh.
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