Sinha-led five-member team to begin Track-II diplomacy in Kashmir 

Geelani and Mirwaiz have given their consent for meeting the track-II team headed by Sinha. 
A boy looks on as a security jawan stands guard during curfew and srike in Srinagar for 15th consecutive day. | (File Photo/PTI)
A boy looks on as a security jawan stands guard during curfew and srike in Srinagar for 15th consecutive day. | (File Photo/PTI)

SRINAGAR: A five-member team led by senior BJP leader and former Union Minister for External Affairs and Finance Yashwant Sinha is arriving here on Tuesday to start Track-II diplomacy to resolve the over three month long unrest in the Valley.

Sources said five member team lead by Sinha and comprising former chairperson of National Commission for Minorities Wajahat Habibullah, former Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak, Journalist Bharat Bhushan and Executive Director, Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation Sushobha Barve will arrive in Srinagar tomorrow.

They said during their three-day stay in Valley, the delegation will hold talks with Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh and leaders of opposition parties to discuss ways and means to end the ongoing unrest.

“The delegation will also be meeting the separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, who is under house arrest at his Hyderpora residence and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is undergoing detention at Cheshma Shahi sub jail,” sources said adding the delegation may also visit a Sheri Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar, where detained JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik is undergoing treatment.

Geelani, Mirwaiz and Malik are spearheading the ongoing agitation in the Valley and issuing weekly protest shutdown calendars.

Kashmir has been witnessing unrest after the killing of 21-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8. 

At least 91 people including two policemen have been killed and over 13000 civilians and more than 4000 security men injured in clashes between security personnel and protestors during last 108 days in the Valley.

Sources said both Geelani and Mirwaiz have given their consent for meeting the track-II team headed by Sinha. 

Geelani, Mirwaiz and Malik had refused to meet the All Party Delegation (APD) members during their visit to the Valley in first week of September. The hardliner Geelani had shut the doors of his house on the APD delegation and refused to meet them after some members of the delegation visited his Hyderpora residence to meet him.

If the meeting between the Track-II team and separatist leaders takes place, it may prove helpful in ending the ongoing unrest and restore normalcy in the Valley.

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