Rajnath holds talks with various groups

Ehsan Fazili

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 23

Even as the situation across the Kashmir valley remained peaceful and under control today, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh held day-long meetings with over 15 delegations, representatives of various sections of society, and individuals on the first day of his assessment of the prevailing law and order situation.

The meetings continued for more than six hours at the highly guarded Nehru Guest House overlooking the Dal Lake, where he reached around noon. He assured necessary and tangible action for restoration of peace and normalcy in the Valley, which had seen trouble for the past two weeks now.

At least 45 civilians and a policeman had been killed in clashes between protesters and security forces following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani in south Kashmir on July 8.

The police said curfew restrictions were lifted from most parts of the Valley today, but continued to remain in force in areas falling under eight police stations of Srinagar district. The restrictions were in force in major towns of Anantnag and Pulwama in south Kashmir, which had witnessed more trouble.

Sources said incidents of stone-throwing and clashes were reported from various areas of the south Kashmir districts of Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian. At least two persons were injured in clashes in the Qazigund area of Anantnag district.

The delegations that met the Home Minister included representatives of civil society groups, tour operators, hotel industry, youth groups, Retired IAS Association, Kashmiri Pandits and Secretariat Employees Union.

The state Congress decided not to meet Rajnath Singh, blaming the Centre for its failure to stop killings and address the concerns of the people in Kashmir.

The Congress, which participated in the all-party meeting called by the Chief Minister on Thursday, held the Central and state governments responsible for the present turmoil.

The Kashmir Economic Alliance, in an open letter to the Home Minister, stressed the need to restore peace and normalcy, with security forces exercising maximum restraint so that there was no loss of life or injury to unarmed protesters.

“We want peace and prosperity for Kashmir. We want mental stability, respect and honour for our women and youth,” it stated.

In a letter to the Home Minister, the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry demanded a stop to the use of lethal weapons by security forces and an end to the killings by way of immediate accountability of security officials.

Pakistan behind unrest, says Jitendra Singh

Udhampur: Union Minister of State for PMO Dr Jitendra Singh today held Pakistan responsible for the present unrest in Kashmir. Whatever was happening in Kashmir was Pakistan sponsored, he said.

“There can be no denying the fact that our neighbour (Pakistan) is singularly responsible for the present deterioration of the situation,” the minister said.

Kashmir was slowly returning to normalcy as a number of steps had been taken by the state and the Central Government. Youths were being misguided by separatist leaders and the need of the hour was to bring them on track so that they could be part of the development going on in the country, Singh said.

He visited the Chenani –Nashri tunnel and inspected the ongoing work which is in the final phase. He took a detailed review of the pending work of the project at a high-level meeting with the officers of the NHAI and the concessionaire, IL&FS.

The Union Minister said India’s longest road tunnel connecting Chenani in Udhampur district and Nashri in Ramban district was likely to be thrown open shortly. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would formally inaugurate the same.

As and when the situation in the Valley returns to normal, a date would be fixed with the Prime Minister for the inauguration of the tunnel, he said.

Most of the work on the project had been completed while some small works were under progress and were likely to be completed by August, Singh added.

With inputs from Deepanker Gupta