Jammu, July 9: Majority of the political parties in the state have turned down the invitation of the state government for `All Party Meet’ to be conveyed by the chief minister Omar Abdullah on Monday.
The efforts of National Conference led coalition government in the state - to built a political consensus for the measures to be taken for improvement of deteriorating law and order situation - received a major set back on Friday as opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and National Panthers Party turned down the offer, while Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) was reportedly divided on the issue.
“The PDP is unable to appreciate the purpose of calling a meeting of political parties at this juncture. We see no merit in it and therefore would want to be excused out of this purposeless exercise. We will not participate”, Naeem Akhtar, spokesman of the PDP, said in a reply letter sent to law and parliamentary affairs minister Ali Muhammad Sagar, on behalf of his party president Mehbooba Mufti.
“It is understood from media reports that the meeting has been called to discuss the present crisis facing the state in the wake of innocent killings at the hands of government forces. The notice surprisingly doesn’t make any mention of the agenda for the meeting”, the spokesman said while referring to the letter dashed out by the government to all the recognized `mainstream’ political parties.
Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, the letter said, had expressed his serious concern at the growing violation of human rights and mounting rage and alienation. “Striking a note of caution, he at a press conference here on May 29, 2010 had among other things suggested holding of a special session of the state legislature to discuss the issue. The party president Mehbooba Mufti had followed it up with a formal letter to the Chief Minister. The suggestion was rejected with a degree of contempt by the Chief Minister as “having no merit in it”, the letter reads further.
It said that the things continued to snowball even as the PDP as the main opposition party continued to caution the government of the gathering storm. That had in fact been the case ever since Bomai (Sopur), Khaigam (Pakherpora) and later the Shopian atrocity. Killing of teenagers at Srinagar, Varmul, Sopur and Islamabad added to the anger which exploded in the absence of a sensitive government.
The government, he said, unfortunately responded only by leveling accusations against everybody and in the process tried to demonize the very people who it claimed to represent. Finally it decided to imprison the population enmasse after filling up jails and police stations. Calling out of army for keeping law and order is obviously the last line of defense for any administration. And, that has been tried.
Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNP) has also decided to stay away from the meeting. “We have been continuously saying that that it was appropriate time for imposition of governor rule in the state in the wake of failure of state government”, president of the party, Harsh Dev Singh, told Greater Kashmir.
“We have decided not to participate in the meeting as it seems a futile exercise by the chief minister”, he added.
Though state unit president of BJP, Shamsher Singh, said that the party is likely to participate in the meet, sources said that the majority of the leaders were of the opinion that the party should not take any decision in hast.
"We haven't received a formal invite as yet," a source close to BJP legislature party leader Chaman Lal Gupta said. "It will be decided only after that," he added.
The BJP in Jammu is divided into two factions, one being friendly with Abdullah and the other opposed to him, say political analysts, adding that this has been the trend since the party won an all-time high number of 11 seats in the assembly.
"The fact is the party has no presence in Kashmir Valley and attending an all-party meet at this time when the whole thing has spun out of the chief minister's control would be an exercise in futility," said a BJP leader.
He admitted that there was a faction within the party that was keen on supporting Abdullah.
 

Lastupdate on : Fri, 9 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 9 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 10 Jul 2010 00:00:00 IST