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| PM’s meet ends in draw | | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Aug 6
• Appeal for peace, no concrete proposal
• Dialogue to continue, more facilities promised
• All-party delegation likely to visit Jammu
• PM to convene another round, to involve Samiti
The much talked about all-party meeting convened by the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in New Delhi today ended in a draw with just some discussions on the issue and an appeal for peace.
The all-party meeting, which had no representation from Jammu –the epicenter of agitation –was attended by almost all parties recognized in the Parliament. Besides a large presence of Congress, the meeting was also attended by the PDP and NC representatives.
The only major thing emerging out of the meeting was that the Center had categorically refused to recall the Governor NN Vohra. It may be mentioned here that all top leaders of Congress had ganged up against Vohra seeking his removal.
Faced with unrelenting month-long violence, an all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tonight appealed for a dialogue and creation of an atmosphere for suspension of agitation. However, the government ruled out recall of Governor N N Vohra, a demand made by the Shri Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti spearheading the agitation in Jammu over the land row during the yatra that has seen escalation in violence.
Various suggestions including that an all party delegation should visit Jammu to assess the situation were made at the meeting, a second round of which may be convened by the Prime Minister.
"The all party meeting was of the unanimous view that an environment must be created where the agitation could be suspended and the issue resolved through the process of dialogue," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters after a four-hour long meeting at the residence of the Prime Minister.
Leaders of all major political parties attended the meeting which suggested "immediately initiating the process of dialogue that would facilitate the suspension of the agitation and its peaceful resolution."
The meeting felt it was imperative that communalisation of the situation should be prevented at all costs as this would adversely impact on the secular fabric of the nation.
Earlier in the day, one person was killed and two injured in the firing by the Army to quell stone-pelting mob on Jammu-Pathankot national highway in curfew-bound Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, according to a defence spokesman.
There were reports of clashes between pro-Amarnath demonstrators and CRPF men in some areas of Srinagar.
Earlier in the day ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's all-party meet on the vexed Amarnath land allotment issue, senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee today briefed the UPA members about the matter. The meeting, which was also attended by senior ministers, including Home Minister Shivraj Patil, discussed the issue in detail.
The UPA leaders who participated in the meeting included Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP), Praful Patel (NCP) and Lalu Prasad (RJD). Also present were SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad briefed the members about the existing situation in the sensitive border state in the wake of the Amarnath row.
After the meeting, Patil appealed to the people of the state to maintain peace. "Our government appeals to all brothers and sisters of Jammu and Kashmir and politicians to first help establish peace. There is no problem that cannot be solved through talks. We need to find a solution to the problem without going against anybody and after taking the opinion of all," Patil said.
Mukherjee told reporters that those in the government as well as those supporting it from outside have been briefed about the issue in the meeting. |
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