NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh revealed on Sunday that in September 2016, four Opposition MPs had attempted to engage with Hurriyat Conference leaders as part of the central government‘s efforts to initiate peace talks in Kashmir. However separatist leaders refused to meet with the delegation, Singh said while addressing an election rally in the Ramban assembly constituency in Jammu.
Singh, who was serving as the home minister then, recounted his discussions with the then-chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti, assuring her that the situation in Kashmir would normalize. He also mentioned that a delegation of MPs, led by Singh himself, had visited the state during that period.
The delegation included senior leaders such as Sharad Yadav from the JDU and representatives from Left parties. Singh had suggested that these leaders engage with the Hurriyat Conference, as the BJP was not well-received by the separatists. However, when Sharad Yadav and some Left leaders approached the Hurriyat leaders, they were met with closed doors and a refusal to engage in dialogue with the country’s senior MPs.
“There were senior leaders like Sharad Yadav (of the JDU) and from the Left parties (in the delegation). I told them that we are from the BJP and the Hurriyat people do not like us and they get irritated on seeing us. You talk to them and tell them that we are ready to talk, but there shall be peace in Kashmir. After asking me, Sharad Yadav and some Left leaders visited the Hurriyat Conference leaders, but they shut their doors on them, saying they will not talk with senior MPs of our country,” the defence minister said.
In his speech on Sunday, Singh also mentioned the filing of FIRs against Kashmiri youth who were involved in stone-pelting incidents that occurred after the death of Burhan Wani.
Singh said, “There were cases against young and innocent children and there were repeated demands from the people to withdraw the cases. People were demanding withdrawal of cases against innocent and minor children and I talked to Mehbooba and asked her to release them. We did everything but the way they (Hurriyat leaders) should have responded, they did not,” Rajnath said.
This marks the first time the central government has acknowledged its attempts to reach out to separatists in 2016, a period marked by widespread protests in Kashmir following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani. The admission comes despite the Narendra Modi government’s consistent portrayal in public of its tough stance against separatists.
During the all-party delegation’s visit to the state in September 2016, amidst violence that claimed 72 lives, four Opposition MPs broke away from the 26-member group and visited the Srinagar residence of hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who was under house arrest. Geelani, however, snubbed the MPs and refused to open his doors.
Hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani didn’t let the MPs in as then-JDU leader Sharad Yadav and Communist leaders Sitaram Yechury and D Raja kept waiting at the door of his upscale Hyderpora residence for about ten minutes before returning.
At the time, Singh had said that the MPs visited on their own, saying, “I want to clarify that some members of the all-party delegation went to meet Hurriyat leaders. We had neither said no nor yes to their meetings (with separatists). You know what happened. I do not wish to go into the details.”
He had further said, “But whatever information those friends gave us upon their return, it can be said it was not Kashmiriyat (Kashmiri value system). It cannot be called insaniyat (humanity). When someone goes for talks and they reject it, it is not jamhooriyat (democracy) as well.”
Singh, who was serving as the home minister then, recounted his discussions with the then-chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti, assuring her that the situation in Kashmir would normalize. He also mentioned that a delegation of MPs, led by Singh himself, had visited the state during that period.
The delegation included senior leaders such as Sharad Yadav from the JDU and representatives from Left parties. Singh had suggested that these leaders engage with the Hurriyat Conference, as the BJP was not well-received by the separatists. However, when Sharad Yadav and some Left leaders approached the Hurriyat leaders, they were met with closed doors and a refusal to engage in dialogue with the country’s senior MPs.
“There were senior leaders like Sharad Yadav (of the JDU) and from the Left parties (in the delegation). I told them that we are from the BJP and the Hurriyat people do not like us and they get irritated on seeing us. You talk to them and tell them that we are ready to talk, but there shall be peace in Kashmir. After asking me, Sharad Yadav and some Left leaders visited the Hurriyat Conference leaders, but they shut their doors on them, saying they will not talk with senior MPs of our country,” the defence minister said.
In his speech on Sunday, Singh also mentioned the filing of FIRs against Kashmiri youth who were involved in stone-pelting incidents that occurred after the death of Burhan Wani.
Singh said, “There were cases against young and innocent children and there were repeated demands from the people to withdraw the cases. People were demanding withdrawal of cases against innocent and minor children and I talked to Mehbooba and asked her to release them. We did everything but the way they (Hurriyat leaders) should have responded, they did not,” Rajnath said.
This marks the first time the central government has acknowledged its attempts to reach out to separatists in 2016, a period marked by widespread protests in Kashmir following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani. The admission comes despite the Narendra Modi government’s consistent portrayal in public of its tough stance against separatists.
During the all-party delegation’s visit to the state in September 2016, amidst violence that claimed 72 lives, four Opposition MPs broke away from the 26-member group and visited the Srinagar residence of hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who was under house arrest. Geelani, however, snubbed the MPs and refused to open his doors.
Hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani didn’t let the MPs in as then-JDU leader Sharad Yadav and Communist leaders Sitaram Yechury and D Raja kept waiting at the door of his upscale Hyderpora residence for about ten minutes before returning.
At the time, Singh had said that the MPs visited on their own, saying, “I want to clarify that some members of the all-party delegation went to meet Hurriyat leaders. We had neither said no nor yes to their meetings (with separatists). You know what happened. I do not wish to go into the details.”
He had further said, “But whatever information those friends gave us upon their return, it can be said it was not Kashmiriyat (Kashmiri value system). It cannot be called insaniyat (humanity). When someone goes for talks and they reject it, it is not jamhooriyat (democracy) as well.”
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