JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) today said it will boycott talks with the all-party delegation led by Home Minister Rajnath Singh owing to the Union and state governments "decision" to allow political parties to meet the delegation only in Kashmir Valley.
Many JKNPP activists led by party chief Harsh Dev Singh staged a demonstration near the Press Club here dubbing the development as an "affront to the political leadership of Jammu region." Talking to reporters here, Singh said they have boycotted the all-party delegation.
"The government functionaries had intimated the Panthers Party that the political parties could interact with central delegation only in Kashmir and the meetings in Jammu region were to be held only with the representatives of the civil society as per the itinerary," he said.
The party in a resolution has decided to boycott the talks with the all-party delegation, he said. Expressing dismay over the state government's invitation to JKNPP for meeting the delegation in Kashmir tomorrow, Singh said, "It defied logic to invite the political leadership of Jammu to place the concerns and issues of Dogra land before the Central delegation in Kashmir rather than Jammu itself."
He claimed that the "deliberate move" to ignore JKNNPP was aimed to create a false notion that Jammu did not have a political leadership and the nucleus of power remained in Kashmir. The all-party delegation led by the Union Home Minister today held talks with Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in Srinagar as it began a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir during which it is expected to interact with a cross-section of people with a view to restoring peace in the strife-hit Valley.