Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said some members of parliament from the all-party delegation went to meet Kashmiri separatists in their individual capacity and the behaviour of the Hurriyat leaders with them defied the spirit of “Kashmiriyat” and “insaniyat”.
“Some members of the delegation went to meet Hurriyat leaders. We had neither said no nor yes to their meetings (with separatists). You know what happened. They had gone there in their individual capacity,” the Home Minister told reporters here before concluding the all-party delegation’s visit to the restive Valley.
He was referring to an attempt by some national opposition leaders from the delegation to hold talks with top Kashmiri separatists on Saturday but were snubbed.
Hardline Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani didn’t let the MPs in as Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav and Communist leaders Sitaram Yechury and D. Raja kept waiting at the door of his upscale Hyderpora residence for about ten minutes before returning.
Visibly angered by the snub to the opposition leaders who had attempted to engage fruitfully with the separatist leaders, the Home Minister said he tweeted before arriving in Srinagar that “we are ready to talk to anyone who wants peace and normalcy in Kashmir”.
The all-party delegation arrived into Srinagar on Sunday on a mission to initiate dialogue to restore peace in the Kashmir valley that is battling nearly two months of the deadliest unrest in years.
(Inputs: IANS)
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