news details |
|
|
| PM to meet all minus Samiti | | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Aug 5
• Manmohan, Sonia discuss issue with Advani
• All-party meeting convened in New Delhi today
• SAYSS members not invited for talks
• Leela Karan says no solution without land
• Jammu bases BJP leaders also not invited
Reconstitution of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board and conditional use of controversial land at Baltal for pilgrimage facilities is reported to be high on agenda as Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh chairs a high level meeting in New Delhi tomorrow to find an amicable solution of the ongoing agitation in Jammu region.
Invitations have been sparingly issued to the members of various political parties. No leader from the state unit of BJP, VHP or Bajrang Dal have been invited for discussion as their national level representatives are expected to participate in the discussions to be chaired by the Prime Minister.
Surprisingly, the representatives of the Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti –which is spearheading the agitation –have not been invited to participate in the all-party meeting convened by the Prime Minister. The keen watchers of the present situation have taken a strong exception to the government decision of not inviting the Samiti members.
"We have not been invited to the meeting…we have not received any invitation from the government", says SAYSS Convener Advocate Leela Karan Sharma. "We are not concerned about what is discussed at the Prime Minister's all-party meeting. The only thing we know is that the agitation will continue till the land is restored to the Shrine Board", Sharma told EARLY TIMES.
Sources said that reconstitution of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board is stated to be the main proposal around which discussions are likely to be held. "It is being considered to reconstitute the Board to have all local members belonging to Jammu and Kashmir and the Board may be made autonomous with no government interference", said the sources. Sources further added that the controversial land at Baltal may put to the same use which it was actually envisaged for with a condition that it proprietary rights shall remain with the Forest department.
It is learnt that the scion of Dogra dynasty and the Congress leader Dr Karan Singh is tipped to take over chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board which will have members mostly drawn from Jammu region.
With the protests over the revocation of land to Amarnath shrine board refusing to die down, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi has sought the opinion of Leader of Opposition L K Advani on the issue.
Singh and Gandhi, alongwith External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, had the discussion with Advani on the issue during the state dinner hosted for visiting Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Monday.
"Advaniji told PM and Sonia Gandhi that some corrective measures were required to bring the situation back to normal," a senior BJP MP said. 'Corrective measures' was a reference to taking back of the land revocation order, the MP said.
Advani reportedly told the three leaders that the current situation was a result of 'government's pandering to the separatist forces'.
The Leader of Opposition is said to have suggested that the Union Govt should discuss the matter with the Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti -- which is spearheading the agitation - to find a solution.
The Prime Minister has called an all-party meeting on Wednesday to find a solution to the Amarnath agitation, which has thrown life out of gear in the Jammu region since it started nearly 35 days ago.
Singh had invited Advani to his residence last week to discuss the Amarnath issue, alongwith internal security and other matters. This was followed by a telephone call from Sonia Gandhi to BJP president Rajnath Singh to discuss the same issue.
Meanwhile the Home Minister Shivraj Patil is reported to have said that "the government is seized of the matter and efforts are on seek an early resolution.
in Jammu and Kashmir, triggered by the Amarnath Shrine land row.
When approach by mediapersons on the sidelines of a function in Pune, Patil refrained from making any further comments except the situation was being deliberated to bring normalcy in the state, where Jammu region has seen days of violent protests, leaving at least half a dozen people dead. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
