In the recent meeting between Rajnath Singh and Mehbooba Mufti, the Union Home Minister asked the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister to work for the rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandits and ensure packages for the Pakistani refugees living in Jammu, the BJP’s J&K unit leaders told The Sunday Guardian, dismissing reports that the discussions had taken place only on the steps taken to consolidate the political process.
“The PDP has been dodging the issue of rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandits and giving them government jobs. They have also stalled the process of providing packages to Pakistani refugees in Jammu. Now the dialogue process has started and Mehbooba Mufti will have to walk the talk,” a senior BJP leader and state Cabinet minister told this reporter. He disclosed that during the latest meeting between Singh and Mufti, the latter was told to implement cluster development for the Kashmiri Pandits and create jobs for them. He said that the agenda of alliance was not only for Kashmir, but also for the Jammu region.
The state BJP leadership said that the Mehbooba Mufti government would have to take care of the aspiration and sentiments of the people of Jammu also. BJP’s senior state leader Nirmal Singh had recently said that their government would focus on the development of all the three regions of J&K.
Mehbooba Mufti, on the other hand, is desperate to win back her support in the Kashmir valley and has warned the police not to attack militant families and try to win people back by being polite to them. In a police function a few days ago, Mehbooba Mufti, who is also the state’s Home Minister, announced that she would double the reward for the cops if they caught the militants alive or made them surrender. She asked the police to follow the law before asking the people of Kashmir not to indulge in unlawful activities. Reports said that the CM, following her meeting with Rajnath Singh, asked her administration to clear relevant files and create 3,000 more jobs for the displaced Pandits.
Informed sources said that Mufti requested the Centre to launch some sort of confidence building measure including the release of political prisoners, halting the NIA investigations into the hawala links of Hurriyat leaders, and some sort of a ceasefire in South Kashmir to make the dialogue process a success. Army chief Bipin Rahwat has said that the announcement of an interlocutor to hold dialogue in Kashmir would not stop the Army from carrying out anti militancy operations. While the separatists are waiting for a signal from Pakistan to get involved in the peace process, the National Conference has described the fresh initiative as useless. NC patron Farooq Abdullah said that the Central government should implement the recommendations made by many interlocutors in the past.