On a mission to restore peace to the Kashmir Valley, the high-level all party delegation led by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today held discussions with various shades of opinion, including the hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who was met by some key members of the visiting team.
Although Geelani and his moderate rivals Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF Chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik had turned down the invitation to meet the delegation, the all-party initiative went out of its way to reach out to the separatists in a bid to address the genuine grievances of the people.
The demands of the mainstream political parties before the 36-member all-party delegation ranged from restoration of autonomy to withdrawing all security forces from the state.
The delegation arrived here this morning and got straight into business by meeting representatives of various mainstream regional as well as national parties at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) located on the banks of the famous Dal Lake.
These included leaders of the ruling National Conference-Congress alliance and the opposition People’s Democratic Party.
A flurry of behind-the-scene activities culminated in a five-member team led by CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury meeting Geelani, while another team met the chairman of the moderate Hurriyat faction, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, at his Nigeen residence.
