Separatists should be isolated and dealt with separately in Kashmir, some members of an all-party delegation of parliamentarians have suggested after a visit to Jammu and Kashmir last week, where over 70 people have died and nearly 10,000 have been injured in violent protests in the last two months.
- Recommendations and observations made by different MPs after their visit have been listed in a summary note by the government ahead of a meeting now being held by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh with the lawmakers.
- It will be decided at the meeting which of these different views presented by the MPs will become part of a blueprint for an action plan to resolve the Kashmir crisis.
- In the summary note, accessed by NDTV, is an observation by some MPs that a daily calendar of protests is being issued by Pakistan in the name of the separatists.
- Some have alleged that the Jammu and Kashmir government has failed to deal effectively with the unrest and have alleged that misleading statements were made by the state's political leaders.
- It has been noted that the unrest is more in the rural areas of South Kashmir and MPs said it is important to control people before they come out on the streets to create law and order problems.
- Members of the delegation have emphasised on the need to lift curfew and re-open schools to restore normal life in the Valley. The movement of civilians must not be restricted, they have said. Some have also recommended a relief package for those killed in the unrest.
- The use of pellet guns must be stopped, the list of recommendations says, and also that the many people who have been injured by the use of these by security forces trying to control crowds must be compensated. There is a suggestion that accountability be fixed for excessive use of force.
- Rajnath Singh had briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday on the visit and will meet President Pranab Mukherjee this evening.
- The government is contemplating a crackdown on Kashmir separatists who snubbed individual members of the all-party delegation who tried to meet them in Srinagar on Sunday.
- The action could include scaling down security, and withdrawing perks like airport privileges and free tickets to travel abroad, housing from the government and free medical services.