Prime Minister Manmohan Singh begins what could have been a crucial two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Monday. He recently indicated that his key objective would be to rope in “those outside the political mainstream ... provided they shun violence”.
But it now appears unlikely that the visit will actually work any miracles in restarting the dialogue process. Even chief minister Omar Abdullah indirectly acknowledged that the Prime Minister’s visit has been overshadowed by the rage across the state over the April 30 staged encounter deaths.