File Picture Courtesy : The Economic Times
The central government’s special representative for Jammu and Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, has arrived Srinagar to start his talks with the various stakeholders in Kashmir, during his five-day visit to start the multi-layered dialogue process.
According to various media reports, Official sources have said the new interlocutor will stay in the Valley for three days and spend two days in the Jammu region to talk to various political parties, socio-cultural organisations, individuals and opinion makers.
A day before his tour, Sharma told PTI, “I do not have a magic wand but my efforts have to be judged with sincerity and not through the prism of the past.”
The former Intelligence Bureau director added that no one should jump to conclusions before the process of talks with various stakeholders in Kashmir begins.
Given the status of the Cabinet Secretary, the highest ranking civil servant in the country, Dineshwar Sharma has been accorded ‘Z’ category armed security cover.
Sources in the separatist camp here said that officials have made attempts to persuade Syed Ali Geelani, the octogenarian separatist leader, to meet the interlocutor.
“While Geelani Sahib does not oppose a dialogue process, at the same time he is not ready to facilitate a process that is aimed at delaying rather than resolving the basic issue,” sources told IANS.
The joint resistance leadership (JRL), an umbrella of separatist leaders including Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik have already dismissed any possibility of a dialogue with the interlocutor.
Former Chief Minister and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah said on Sunday that he does not expect much from the process being started by appointing a new interlocutor.
Three officially designated interlocutor groups headed by KC Pant, NN Vohra and Dilip Padgaonkar have visited the state during the past 15 years to create a headway to end the ongoing cycle of violence in Kashmir.
Sharma, who is originally from Bihar and was a Kerala-cadre IPS officer of the 1979 batch, held the country’s top-most post for a police officer from 2014 to 2016.
He said Kashmir was his “second home” as his professional journey in the premier intelligence unit began here in 1992.
