Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 29: In response to the latest dialogue offer made by the Union Home Minister, senior CPI (M) leader and MLA Kulgam, Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami while welcoming the step said that there is need on part of the Center to specify the contours of the dialogue so that it doesn’t prove to be one more addition of previous such exercises.
He said the statement of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh that the Centre was ready to talk to every stakeholder, including Hurriyat Conference, “If the separatists come forward for talks”, it is a welcome step. However, there is a perception that chain of broken promises, repeated interruptions and palpable lack of honesty in the past was the reason for the failure of earlier such initiatives.
Tarigami in a statement said that the latest offer by the Centre has come after the hardline policy of New Delhi failed to achieve desired results. “Our consistent policy has been always that dialogue is the only way forward,” he said.
Tarigami said that now with Centre creating a window of opportunity by announcing that it was ready to hold dialogue with all shades of opinions, it should not once again be vague and hazy.
“The Centre should be specified in the dialogue offer and its contours should be well defined. The dialogue should be structured, sustained and sincere. It should go beyond the ‘beaten track’ and should not focus on the issue through security prism only, which has been the focus of the policy so far. The Government should take stock of the initiatives taken till now, including the reports of various committees and interlocutors. It is needless to say that these reports and recommendations are gathering dust in the Home Ministry,” he said
Tarigami said the Centre must review actions by security forces that stifle ordinary life, such as cordon-and-search operations, restrictions on movement of people in villages, and suspension of Internet services. “The Centre Government should get its message out on its vision for a longer-term resolution to reverse alienation amid a polarized debate in sections of the media on the value of the ceasefire, which adds to the sense of anxiety in Kashmir,” he said
Tarigami demanded that the Government should release all the political prisoners without any further delay.
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