Interlocutors complete year-long process of interaction in JK

Srinagar, Sep 20 (PTI) The Centre's interlocutors on
Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday completed the year-long process
of interactions with a cross-section of people to find a
solution to the political issues of the state.
The team -– comprising eminent journalist Dileep
Padgaonkar, academician Radha Kumar and former Information
Commissioner M M Ansari -– interacted with people from all
walks of life in north Kashmir's Kupwara district on Tuesday.
During the current visit to the state, which is their
last before they submit their report to the Indian Government,
the interlocutors also visited Samba district in Jammu region
and Shopian and Baramulla districts in the Valley.
"We had not visited these four district headquarters so
far. This has concluded the interaction part for us," one of
the interlocutors said.
The team has submitted interim reports to the Centre
after every visit and will now begin work on their final draft
upon their return to New Delhi tomorrow.
They have maintained that they will submit their final
recommendations to the Centre before their term expires on
October 12 this year.
With this, the Centre's interlocutors have visited all 22
districts of the state since their appointment on October 13
last year. The team was appointed at the fag end of last
summer's unrest in the Valley and assigned the task of finding
a solution to the political problems of the state.
While the separatists have not engaged with the
interlocutors appointed by the Centre, the team has said that
the decision will not have any bearing on their report.
The interlocutors had said earlier that they will
incorporate the known stands of various separatist groups in
their final report.
Certain sections from mainstream political parties in the
state also initially expressed reservations about the role and
conduct of the interlocutors due to their statements about the
role of Pakistan in resolution of the Kashmir issue at the
very outset of their appointment.
However, the interlocutors' decision to visit every
district and major towns of the state for interactions drew
more and more people to put forth their point of view to them.
Although the interlocutors have not divulged most of the
recommendations made to the Centre and state government over
the past one year, they are credited with removal of many
security forces' bunkers in the city and the general amnesty
announced by Chief Omar Abdullah to those involved in
stone-pelting up to August 28 this year.