Srinagar, Sept 20: The Peoples Democratic Party Monday said there was nothing to cherish about the All Party Delegation (APD) visit to Kashmir “except that the delegation met the separatist leadership.” The party reiterated that “stringent curfew and lopsided views” defeated the essence of the much-hyped initiative.“The only good thing about the APD visit is that some of its members went out of way and met the separatist leaders including Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who are an important part of the entire issue,” said the PDP president, Mehbooba Mufti, who skipped meeting the delegation led by the Home Minister, P Chidambaram.Unfortunately, Mehbooba said, the APD didn’t meet the common man who has been directly affected by the three months long unrest in the Valley. “I am disappointed that they didn’t meet the people who have lost their dear ones in action by security forces. They didn’t go to hospitals and meet those injured in the past three months. That would have given them a clear idea of what the entire issue is all about,” she told Greater Kashmir in the evening. “I am not impressed with the APD visit because government had created a situation where ordinary people were confined to their homes rather than allowed to meet the delegation. New Delhi has already heard the views of the mainstream parties in Kashmir. The real purpose of the APD was to grasp the common man’s opinion. That way the meeting has failed to yield any result.”Asked why she skipped the meet, she said, “You are reading too much into it. Our general secretary represented the 15-member delegation which met the APD. My presence there was not necessary.”The delegation, led by senior PDP leader, Muhamamd Dillawar Mir pitched for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute and complete revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Jammu and Kashmir, before the APD members.While it did so, PDP leader, Nizam-ud-Din Bhat while addressing the media persons after meeting the APD, said the party was shocked to observe that the delegation was in a hurry.“We were shocked to hear the Home Minister, P Chidambaram telling us that we can express our views in just 15 minutes about the complex three months long Kashmir crisis,” said the PDP leader. “The delegation seemed to be in a hurry.”Bhat, however, was quick to add that the party urged the APD to meet the protesters who were on the streets and also the bullet-hit patients in Valley hospitals. “We also sought an out of box solution to the Kashmir dispute,” he said, adding it was highly condemnable that government had clamped curfew across the Valley since yesterday.Bhat reiterated the party’s stand that the present crisis was an outcome of the delay in addressing the Kashmir issue and also the “mishandling of the crisis” by the Omar Abdullah led state government.“While we sought out of box solutions to the Kashmir issue, we also asked the APD to look into the gag imposed by the state government on the Kashmir media,” Bhat said, adding the Central government must take steps to ensure that police and paramilitary forces don’t kill the unarmed civilians and that the siege is life and youth released. 
 

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