The All Party Meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti Wednesday “suggested appealing the Centre to announce a unilateral cessation of hostilities in view of the coming month of Ramadhan and Amarnath yatra to extend relief to common masses.”
The Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said suggestion during the meeting also came of constituting an All Parties Delegation (APD) to apprise the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi of the emerging challenges in Jammu & Kashmir and the urgent need to reach out to people in the light of his last Independence Day speech. The Prime Minister is visiting the State next week. According to the government spokesman, some of the parties in the meeting sought announcement of a ceasefire with militants during the holy month of Ramzan and the upcoming Amarnath Yatra.
The Chief Minister had called the meeting following the killings of six civilian protesters in Shopian on Sunday. The police said they were killed in the crossfire during the operation against the militants. However, the locals allege they were killed at different places away from the encounter site. Also on Monday, a 25-year-old tourist from Tamil Nadu died after being hit by a stone in clashes between protesters and security forces on the outskirts of Srinagar. Both the separatists and mainstream political parties condemned the incident and described it as shameful.
Senior PDP leader and government spokesman Naeem Akhtar said the ceasefire was one of the suggestions from the parties.
Terming peace as the ultimate yearning of every section of society in the State, Mehbooba appealed all shades of opinion in joining this mission to get the State out of violence and bloodshed. “This is the concern of all of us because in peace lie the stakes of every section of society for which we all should strive jointly”, she said in her address.
Mehbooba Mufti underscored the need for apprising the national leadership and people of the country of the urgent need to reach out to the people of the State and listen to their story of pain and sufferings. She suggested constitution of an All Party Delegation to meet the Prime Minister and apprise the national leadership about the pain and sufferings of the people and take appropriate measures to minimize the same.
Terming Agenda of Alliance (AoA) as a visionary document, Mehbooba Mufti said the need of the hour is to go back to the document and seek its immediate implementation which she said holds key to the problems and issues confronting the State.
Later talking to media persons about the meeting, the Chief Minister said it was satisfying to note that all participants were unanimously concerned about the unending cycle of violence in the State and wished its immediate end. Equally encouraging, she added, was that the participants wanted implementation of the Agenda of Alliance which they believed would positively change the situation in the State.
Deputy Chief Minister, Kavinder Gupta also addressed the meeting and stressed on close cooperation between Government and opposition in tackling issues confronting the State.
The meeting was attended by Ministers, Syed Basharat Bukhari, Naeem Akhtar, Sat Sharma and leaders of all political parties in the State.
