Srinagar, Sept. 21: There was dissonance within the ranks of the all-party delegation visiting troubled Jammu and Kashmir even before it had completed its mission to reach out to the people of the state.
The sour note was struck by the BJP leader, Ms Sushma Swaraj, a team member, who said on Tuesday that it was not the delegation’s collective decision to meet the separatist leaders on Monday, nor had it mandated its members to meet them.
Amid the hoopla over delegation members reaching out to the separatists, the Chief Minister, Mr Omar Abdullah, came out with a statement in which he appeared to take credit for the all-party delegation’s move to meet the separatists. He said the all-party team’s meetings with the separatist leaders was scheduled and “we had only worked to make it possible”.
Ms Swaraj, whose party wants Article 370 of the Constitution — which gives Kashmir a special status — to be abrogated, said when asked about some team members calling on the separatist leaders: “No, no, it was not a mandate. It was not discussed in the delegation. Some members expressed their desire to go there. Naturally, the delegation leader said you can go.”
The CPI(M) leader, Mr Sitaram Yechury, who was one of those who met the Hurriyat hardliner, Mr S.A.S. Geelani, said the desire to meet the separatist leaders had been expressed in front of the entire delegation, and no one had opposed it. The Lok Janshakti Party chief, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, also called on Mr Geelani on Tuesday.