Mehbooba says no to PM on Kashmir all-party meet

Srinagar: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti stood her ground on Sunday and turned down Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's request to her to attend the all-party meeting called on Monday by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah over the violence in Jammu and Kashmir.

"It was very kind of the prime minister to call me. I have deep regard for the PM. He advised us to attend the meeting. But it was painful to convey my inability to attend the meeting," Mehbooba told reporters, a day after Manmohan Singh called her urging her to reconsider her refusal to attend the meeting.
She said the situation in the Kashmir Valley was "so bad that nothing at the level of the state government, that has been discredited, will help... unless there is a bigger initiative which will be taken seriously by the people who are caught in a prison like situation".
"I told the PM to excuse us. But we are looking forward to a bigger initiative from him," she said, but didn't elaborate.
She alleged that the Omar Abdullah government was trying to hide its "failures" by convening such a meeting after taking all the decisions that "he shouldn't have taken".

"They have used excessive force to suppress the anger. And he projects himself like the only nationalist (in Kashmir)."
The PDP chief said the meeting was a "damage control exercise" aimed to hoodwink the international community.
"I have requested the prime minister to intervene and put forward four points," she said, adding media curbs in the Valley should be lifted, the army should be recalled, and the crackdown launched by the state government should be put to an end.

"Yes, the prime minister called her Saturday night and urged her to reconsider her party's decision not to attend the meeting," a close aide of Mehbooba told IANS. The aide said the call from Manmohan Singh came after Mehbooba in a TV programme snubbed the chief minister's offer of talks saying the party wanted the prime minister to intervene to resolve the Kashmir problem.
He said the PDP "as of now" was sticking to its decision of not attending the meeting. "However, the president is holding a press conference later today where she will make the party's stand clear," he said.
On Mehbooba's statement that she wanted the prime minister to intervene, he explained saying: "I think that they have misunderstood the PDP president. She didn't say that the party will attened the meeting only after Manmohan Singh calls. She wants the prime minister to hold a meeting with all stake-holders and restart the halted dialogue process in Kashmir."
Abdullah has called an all-party meeting on Monday to discuss the volatile situation in the state where the army was called in to stage marches in curfew-bound towns to restore law and order following violent protests over civilian killings in the valley. Abdullah has said the meeting was called to "seek a common approach" to the problem in the state.

Curfew again in some parts of Srinagar
Srinagar: Curfew was reimposed in Anantnag, Pulwama, Sopore districts and Maisuma and Batamaloo areas of Srinagar after protesters pelted stones at the Police and Central Reserve Police Force.
However, curfew relaxation continued in the other parts of the Valley. The curfew had been relaxed on Friday evening to allow people to offer special prayers on the occasion of Shab- e- Mehraj festival.
As the curfew relaxation continued in Srinagar in the morning, youths began pelting stones at the security personnel in Maisuma and Batamaloo localities leading to a reimposition of curfew. While traffic was visible on the city's roads, the shops remained closed.
In South Kashmir's Pulwama district, protestors pelted stones at the police station at Kakapora and other places prompting authorities to re-impose curfew at the district headquarters, Kakapora and Muran towns.
In Anantnag town the curfew relaxation was cut short after some youths pelted stones on the police at Lal Chowk area. SSP Pulwama, Kifayat Haider said that restrictions were imposed at some places after a mob tried to attack a police station. "The situation is well under control in the district," he said.
A demonstration led by Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq from the downtown area of the city passed off peacefully. Clashes also broke out in Sopore and Baramulla. The administration of Baramulla's district hospital went on a strike over the detention of a hospital employee Ashiq Hussein by the Police on Friday. The hospital administration also blamed the Police and Army for preventing its employees, including ambulance drivers, from performing their duties.
"It is very unfortunate that one of our nursing orderlies was arrested by the Police while he was rescuing an injured civilian on Friday evening," Hospital Superintendent, Mohammad Shafi Nanda told The Indian Express.