The all-party delegation led by home minister Rajnath Singh will not just visit Srinagar but also Jammu, and will attempt to interact with a wider section of representatives from both regions of the s
The all-party delegation led by home minister Rajnath Singh will not just visit Srinagar but also Jammu, and will attempt to interact with a wider section of representatives from both regions of the state. Among those likely to be part of the delegation are three Central ministers — Arun Jaitley, Ram Vilas Pawan and Jitendra Singh. Leaders of other parties will include Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ambika Soni, Sitaram Yechury, D. Raja and Asaduddin Owaisi.
Sources said the team will meet any delegation, including separatists, which wants to discuss matters relating to J&K, but within constitutional norms. Senior home ministry officials are expected to brief the all-party team on Saturday on the complex security situation in the Kashmir Valley. The government also wants to ensure that the delegation doesn’t give any conflicting statements during the visit and they appear to be on the same page in an attempt to resolve the state’s ongoing crisis.
The sending of such an all-party team to the violence-hit Valley was first discussed at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month, attended by leaders of all major parties. After this, the home minister visited the Valley and discussed the matter with chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, following which the dates for the visit of the all-party delegation were finalised.
The home ministry has put security forces in the Valley on alert after intelligence reports that subversive elements were likely to step up violence before the team’s visit. Some inputs claimed south Kashmir was particularly vulnerable as terror groups had a stronger base there.
Intelligence reports with the MHA also claim that terror groups, particularly Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, have managed to consolidate their position since the violence escalated in the Valley. “As the security forces are busy trying to contain the violence in the Valley in the past 50-odd days, the terror operatives have used this period to consolidate their networks. Though subversive elements are also fuelling the agitation, we suspect once normalcy returns, these terror groups will again step up their activities. We have cautioned the security forces about this,” a senior intelligence official said.
