Early Times Report
jammu, Mar 17: Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir seem to be pulling in different directions. This became evident the other day when the Government of India's interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma without mincing words contradicted Ahir and declared that he goes only with Rajnath Singh.
Dineshwar Sharma Thursday stated that "the Home Ministry has appointed him to talk to everyone and not with the 'elected representatives' only". His statement came just a day after, Minister of State (MoS) Home, Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, told the Lok Sabha in response to a question that "Dineshwar Sharma, former Director of Intelligence Bureau, has been appointed as its representative to J&K to initiate and carry forward a dialogue with the elected representatives, various organizations and concerned individual in the State of Jammu and Kashmir".
Contradicting MoS Home, Sharma said that "the Home Minister Rajnath Singh has already 'clarified' that the Interlocutor will talk to everyone whoever wants to talk". "I will talk to everyone. What more I should tell when the Home Minister has himself made a clarification? Now if the MoS Home Ahir Sahab is saying something...please ask him," he was quoted as saying in New Delhi.
It bears recalling that on March 14, the MoS Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir in a written reply to a question had said that the Dineshwar Sharma has been appointed as Government of India's Representative to carry forward a dialogue with the elected representatives, various organizations and concerned individual in the State of Jammu and Kashmir".
MoS Home Hansraj Ahir had, in addition, said that the Government of India was committed to bringing peace in J&K and ready to hold dialogue with all the sections of society who shun the path of violence within the framework of Constitution of India".
Dineshwar Sharma has so far held six rounds of talks with different "stakeholders" in J&K since he was appointed as a Special Representative of the Government of India last October to start a fresh dialogue.
That Dineshwar Sharma contradicted Hansraj Ahir and said he would go only by what Rajnath says simply demonstrates that the Union Home Ministry is still not clear about the mandate Dineshwar Sharma has and this is a cause of worry. |
