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| Interlocuters in Kargil on 2nd Leg of Visit | | | ET REPORT
Srinagar, Nov 10: Centre's interlocutors on Jammu and Kashmir, on their second visit to the state, today met and interacted with several religious and political delegations in Kargil district in Ladakh.
Professor Radha Kumar and Information Commissioner MM Ansari, two of the three interlocutors, arrived in Kargil in the morning on day two of their visit and met a number of delegations.
These included that of Imam Khomenei Memorial Trust (IKMT), Islamia School, the National Conference, the Congress, the BJP, the PDP and the Buddhist Association Zanskar.
The chairman of the Kargil Hill Development Council also met the two Centrally-appointed interlocutors.
Journalist Dilip Padgaonkar, who heads the 3-member team of interlocutors, is out of the country.
"During our meeting with the interlocutors, we firmly opposed any move or idea to divide the state on religious, regional or linguistic lines," IKMT's representative Asgar Ali Khan Karbalaie told PTI.
"Jammu and Kashmir should be one entity as it was in 1947," he said after the meeting.
Karbalaie said he also conveyed to the interlocutors the wish of the people of Kargil for resolving the "political (Kashmir) issue" by holding talks with all stakeholders.
"We also demanded creation of Ladakh division for better development of Leh and Kargil districts. Everyone talks of three regions in the state -- Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh -- but constitutionally there are only two provinces," he said.
Yesterday, Kumar and Ansari visited Leh district where they met a cross-section of the people in the pre-dominantly Buddhist district.
Karbalaie said he brought to interlocutors' notice the eruption of tension and disturbances during the Lok Sabha poll in Ladakh region.
"We have one Lok Sabha seat for Leh and Kargil. This often creates tension between Buddhists and Muslims. We suggested the Rajya Sabha seat should be reserved for one district and the Lok Sabha for the other," he said.
Demands for opening up of Kargil-Skardu road on the pattern of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalakote routes and providing direct telephone facility with PoK, Gilgit and Baltistan were also raised, Karbalaie said.
"We are not able to talk to our relatives in Gilgit and Baltistan due to the one-sided jamming of telecom services," he said.
Kargil Hill Development Council chairman Kachoo Ahmad Ali Khan said "we raised the issue of connectivity of Kargil with rest of the country during winter."
They stressed on expediting work on construction of a tunnel at Zojilla pass that would connect Ladakh region with rest of the country throughout the year, he said.
"We also sought introduction of small air flights to Kargil," Khan said.
He said he brought to the notice of interlocutors the refusal of army to vacate 100 hectares of land in Kargil's Kurbathang area.
The land was required for expanding the district headquarter's town, Khan said.
"We have given them 150 hectares at Kumputhang in Sanko area which is much safer than Kurbathang as it is out of the firing range of Pak troops. But, they are not vacating the land."
Later, the interlocutors flew to Baramulla where they met several delegations including that of the Numberdar Association, Transporters and a political party.
The two-member team will visit the border town of Uri, near the LoC, tomorrow.
During their visit to Leh yesterday, the interlocutors met a cross-section of the people who raised demands like the grant of Union Territory status to Ladakh region and inclusion of Ladakhi in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
They also demanded more relief for rehabilitation of villagers rendered homeless by the cloudburst in August last.
The interlocutors had described their first visit to the state last month as successful.
However, separatists did not meet them terming the exercise as a futile one. |
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