NEW DELHI: Political parties on Friday urged the government to hold talks with all stakeholders in Kashmir and undertake confidence building measures to stop the violence there. During the all party meeting on Kashmir, leaders of all political parties called for starting of dialogue. Former PM Manmohan Singh, who also attended the meeting, said the most important thing at the moment was to defuse the present situation.
Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said, “What is important is to heal the wounds and not to close the doors of dialogue. Win the hearts and minds of people in general and youth in particular.” Azad, talking to the media after the meeting, added, “This should be done by cajoling through love and affection as we cannot win over by confrontation.”
But, the Congress added that there can be no dialogue with Pakistan as it was using harsh language against India.
CPM MP and general secretary Sitaram Yechury said, “There was virtual unanimity on the suggestion that a political dialogue should be started immediately with all stakeholders in the State to restore normalcy.”
Senior PDP leader Muzaffar Baig, who attended the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said that unlike the past, the unrest is in rural areas and not in urban regions.
Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandhyopadhyay said there is no use in talking to the “old faces” as the current unrest involves mainly young people.
DMK leader Kanimozhi, who was having difficulty in following the proceedings of the meeting which were mostly in Hindi, said it was a similar situation with regard to the Kashmiris since they were not able to understand the language of the Central government.