Am trying to meet Hurriyat leaders, says Interlocutor

Srinagar: Dineshwar Sharma, the newly appointed interlocutor Wednesday said he was trying to meet the separatist leaders. Sharma made the statement after his first visit proved to be a damp squib as no major player either from the separatist or the mainstream camp bothered to take him seriously.  

Sharma after meeting political delegations here, told reporters that he expected to meet more people in coming days. “I am also trying to meet the Hurriyat leaders,” he said.

“My meetings were very good. I met many people. I wish that peace returns to Kashmir and some political solution comes out,” Sharma said.

When asked if he will walk an extra mile to talk to Hurriyat, Sharma responded, “I will try my best.” Sharma is on his first visit to the valley after he was appointed as the interlocutor to start dialogue with all the “stakeholders”.

Notably, the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik have already rejected talks with him. They have termed his appointment as “nothing more than a tactic to buy time” by New Delhi.

Earlier, on Tuesday Hurriyat (G) claimed that an official of the State government approached them for facilitating a meeting between the interlocutor and Hurriyat (G) chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

 “A state representative, on the intervening night of November 4 and 5, expressed a desire to meet the Hurriyat chairman to facilitate his meeting with the designate interlocutor,” a Hurriyat spokesman said here.

He said that according to the Hurriyat, “forced negotiations” have no political or moral justifications.

“We reject the dialogue offer…It is mere rhetoric and wastage of time and no section of Hurriyat or any group will meet the designate interlocutor or participate in this futile exercise,” the spokesman said.

 

 

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