Satya Pal Malik pitching for rehabilitation of terrorists

SRINAGAR: After Central interlocutor Dineswar Sharma failed to break ice with the separatists, Governor Satya Pal Malik, with the blessings of Prime Minister Narindra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, is trying to look at ways and means to build bridges with them and also to go soft on the terrorists who are active in South Kashmir, to bring levels of violence down in the state. Malik on Thursday gave broader contours of his new policy for the rehabilitation of terrorists in Kashmir when he said that killing of the terrorists is not the solution to the problem and he will try to bring the gun-wielding youth to the mainstream. He said that he feels for the loss of all the lives in Kashmir—be it of a soldier, a terrorist or a civilian. He said that he was mulling to clear the policy by virtue of which, the youth with guns will be rehabilitated and they will live a dignified life. Malik told the media that the policy for their rehabilitation was under his active consideration.The Governor’s remarks came at a stage when his administration was being complemented by New Delhi for killing about 260 militants in the state last year, the highest in the past 11 years. Malik has been recently trying to build bridges with Hurriyat Conference and has tried to act on all their press releases regarding the human rights abuses in the Valley, especially in South Kashmir. While Malik held out an olive branch to Hurriyat on one hand, he snubbed PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on the other for alleging human rights violations in South Kashmir.