JKNEWSTODAY EXCLUSIVE
Srinagar, October 28: Former External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha led team that concluded its three-day-long visit of Srinagar on Thursday felt that “ Kashmir requires political and economic concessions “ to court normalcy and a meaningful peace on the ground.
Sinha whose team included some of the veterans like Bharat Bhushan, Sushova Barve , Kapil Kak and Wajahat Habibullah was able to evoke responsive talks from separatists and others because of the prior understanding between the two sides. Despite a strong denial of Sinha that his group had no official sanction, the fact unfolded by the turn of events proved otherwise.
Sources told JK NEWS TODAY ( JKNT) that this visit was pre-arranged through different channels and some think tanks who had promised to the Kashmiri stakeholders that this group would report back their “ viewpoint in black and white to the important quarters.” These important quarters included Prime Minister’s office and some think tanks to deliberate on the matter.
“ This is a good exercise but it would have to be seen that how fruitful the suggestions are,” a source who knows the behind the scene deliberations of the delegation confided to JKNT .
These think tanks were based in the country or abroad as well.
There was a display of extraordinary interest on Kashmir by some countries as also the think tanks within the county and abroad after the unrest that derailed the normal life in the Valley since July 8, when a militant commander Burhan Wani was killed in a gunfight with the Indian police and troops.
Nearly 90 persons had died and over 10, 000 injured during , what once seemed, an unending cycle of violent protest by stone and petrol bomb throwers . The shutdown is continuing still, while the scale of protests has been downsized . However, the incidents of torching of vehicles and vendors’ carts have increased over the past few days suggesting that the road to normalcy is full of hurdles.
The delegation deliberately disassociated itself from Government of India or BJP, the ruling party in the country, to serve as a cover for its acquired neutrality . But the fact is that this was an agenda-driven delegation having many reporting posts, the sources said.
