Jammu, April 23
Although separatists will abstain from tomorrow’s round-table conference (RTC) with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi,many participants will be there pleading for dialogue with them, hardliners and terrorist groups. In the earlier two RTCs, various political parties articulated their viewpoints to resolve the Kashmir issue, but this time particularly the Kashmir- based parties are likely to ask Dr Manmohan Singh to widen the scope by involving separatists, hardliners and top terrorist Syed Salahuddin in the talks.

Going beyond the agenda of the RTC, National Conference chief Omar Abdullah, PDP leader and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, CPM leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami and certain other participants are expected to put forth this demand before Manmohan Singh. They have already made a suggestion in their recent public meetings in the state. Tarigami had written a letter to Manmohan Singh for this purpose.

Transport minister and chairman of the Peoples Democratic Front (PDF) Hakeem Yaseen said involving separatists and militant leaders in talks would be “my first and topmost point” in the RTC. Yaseen has already reached Delhi and was discussing the issue with other Kashmiri leaders.

Yaseen said there was no way but to talk to separatists and militant leaders for a lasting solution to the Kashmir crisis. “We cannot ignore them”, he said and added that yesterday’s largely attended public meeting of hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani in Srinagar was an indication of this.

Geelani has queered the pitch by organising a public meeting on the eve of the RTC. This has provided a platform to hardliners to consolidate their position and make their presence felt. Activists of the Hizbul Mujaheedin,the Lashkar-e-Toiba and other terrorist outfits waved flags of their respective organisations at the meeting and raised pro-Pakistan slogans.

Geelani had timed the public meeting to build pressure on the Kashmiri participants of the RTC to toughen their stand before the Prime Minister.

Another interesting feature of the RTC will be Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and the Mufti facing each other on one table after a long time.The former has been denouncing the latter’s demand for troop reduction and repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFPA).

The BJP and other Jammu-based participants are expected to ask Manmohan Singh to disclose the “hidden Kashmir deal” with Pakistan to which Geelani referred to in his public meeting.

The US- based Pugwash, which had organised a meeting on Kashmir at Cochin on April 22 and 23, has postponed it in view of the PM’s RTC.

The main agenda of the RTC was to discuss recommendations of four of the five working groups set up by the Prime Minister at the last RTC held in Srinagar in May last year. Manmohan Singh had set up five working groups - economic development, rehabilitation of terrorism victims, trans-Line of Control issues, good governance and Centre-state relations - to look more closely at the problems concerning Jammu and Kashmir.

While the four working groups have finished the deliberations, the fifth and most crucial working group, chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Sagir Ahmad, which was to prepare a roadmap for future deliberations on the Centre-state relations, appears to have reached a deadlock.

Udhampur, April 23
The Army has launched a campaign to impart education to the neglected lot of the society in the violence-hit state. As the literacy rate is below 5 per cent among the nomadic Gujjars and Bakerwals, the Army has decided to open institutions to provide technical education to this community.

Hostels are being constructed in almost all districts with the help of the Army to provide free boarding and lodging, besides education, to the children of this nomadic community.

PRO of the Northern Command Col S. K. Goutam said the Army had opened 70 goodwill schools in far-flung areas to provide quality education to children of the poor.

“In these schools, high-quality education is provided to the students'', Goutam said, adding that the Army had also decided to open 22 hostels for Gujjar and Bakerwal students.

Gujjars and Bakerwals are nomadic people inhabited in the far-flung areas. The population of this community is 12.6 per cent in Doda district and 18.2 per cent in Udhampur district. As most of the schools in the hilly areas are virtually defunct due to unavailability of the teaching staff, the community has been bearing the brunt of non-serious attitude of the authorities.

After opening of goodwill schools, the literacy rate is likely to improve in this most backward community.

Under Operation Sadbhavana, the Army has created facilities for the education of Gujjars and Bakerwal. Besides providing them opportunities to get quality education at their doorsteps, the armed forces are also conducting visits in different parts of the country to enlighten them about the progress the other parts of the country had made.

Srinagar, April 23
The state unit of the CPM has demanded the withdrawal of excessive security forces from Jammu and Kashmir and the participation of militants and separatists in the ongoing peace process to resolve the Kashmir issue.

These demands are being put forth by the CPM through its formula comprising 13 measures for "Kashmir conflict- resolution" apart from certain "serious political inputs" at the third roundtable being held in New Delhi tomorrow.

The party is among various mainstream political parties that are prepared with their agendas before the third roundtable. All separatist political organisations in Jammu and Kashmir, except for the Democratic Liberation Party led by Hashim Qureshi, have already announced their decisions to stay away from the roundtable conference.

According to a CPM document released here today, it seeks to withdraw the excessive forces, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and vacation of the occupation of private and public properties by the security forces".

"Disproportionately excessive presence of the security forces, instead of providing a sense of security to the common people, is proving to be counter-productive, intimidatory and a cause of undue interference in their daily lives", CPM state secretary M Y Tarigami stated in the document. It also seeks to facilitate the return of those youth, who have crossed over to the other side of the LoC, with a comprehensive programme of the rehabilitation of victims of violence