Hurriyat a stakeholder, but no talks with militants: Nirmal Singh
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, today said that the Hurriyat Conference is also a stakeholder in talks and that the Government has never prevented anyone from holding a dialogue.
Singh made these remarks here on the sidelines of a top BJP meeting which was also attended by National General Secretary of party Ram Madhav. Talking to reporters, the Deputy CM said that Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti wrote a letter to Hurriyat last year when Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh came here and invited them for talks.
“If we were not ready to talk to them, such a letter would not have gone out. They also shut their doors to the Parliamentary delegation. But, we believe this is a good opportunity and everyone should come forward for the peace and prosperity of J&K and for the future of its youth,” he said.
When asked whether Government would send a formal invitation to resistance leaders for talks, Singh said that Dineshwar Sharma, who has been appointed an interlocutor for J&K talks, has been fully empowered to talk to anyone and he will decide it all.
“The state government has no role in it,” he said. The Deputy Chief Minister however, said that all coalition partners have appreciated the appointment of interlocutor.
“We want the dialogue to start soon and everyone should come forward and place their point of view,” he said. However, Singh said that no talks would be held with militants. “Whoever carries a gun in his hand, it is no use to talk to him. Otherwise, the interlocutor is free to talk to everyone,” he added.
KV Correspondent
