Centre appoints former IB director for 'sustained dialogue' in Kashmir

New Delhi: In a fresh move for peace in Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre on Monday announced a "sustained dialogue" process with all stakeholders in the Valley and appointed a former Intelligence Bureau director as its special representative.

Dineshwar Sharma would hold talks with all sections of people and organisations, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said at a hurriedly called press conference here.

The home minister made it clear that Sharma, who would hold the rank of a cabinet secretary, would have complete independence in deciding who to hold talks with. He was replying to a question on whether Sharma would hold discussions with the Hurriyat Conference.

"The Centre has shown conviction and consistency on Kashmir issue and carrying forward this policy, we have decided to begin a sustained dialogue policy for Jammu and Kashmir.

"And for this we have decided to appoint Dineshwar Sharma as special representative of the Government of India," Singh told reporters.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day address, Singh said the government was sensitive to issues related to Jammu and Kashmir.

The prime minister's Independence Day statement that problems in the state could be solved "neither by bullet, nor by abuses but by embracing the people" clearly underlined the government s policy and intentions, he said.

Singh said the prime minister had held a series of meetings with political representatives on the Kashmir issue.

"All of them were clear that the process of dialogue should begin in the Valley," he said.

Asked about the failure of similar initiatives undertaken earlier, Singh said, "Please take it from me that whatever we do, we will do with saaf neeyat aur neeti (good intentions and clear policy)."

In another supplementary question on previous reports of interlocutors gathering dust in the home ministry, he said, "You cannot pre-judge that this initiative will not be successful. Our announcement shows how serious we are about initiating dialogue."

The home minister said the special representative would initiate sustained interactions and dialogue to understand the legitimate aspirations of people, especially the youth, and try to fulfil them, he said.

Sharma, a 1979-batch (retired) officer of the Indian Police Service, served as director of the Intelligence Bureau from December 2014 to 2016.

Asked whether a police officer was capable for holding talks on such a sensitive issue, Singh shot back, "What's wrong in that. He is an apolitical person having no political affiliation which is his greatest advantage. Besides he is well aware about the internal security situation of the country."

Singh also made it clear that there was no time-frame set for him as the issue was sensitive.

Sharma is the fourth interlocutor appointed by the Centre since 2002. The first one was former Union minister K C Pant, the second N N Vohra, the present governor of the state, and the last a three-member panel comprising former bureaucrat M M Ansari, academician Radha Kumar and late journalist Dileep Padgaonkar.

Srinagar: Following the Centre's announcement on Monday about a "sustained dialogue" on Kashmir, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said that the acceptance of the political nature of the issue was a defeat of those who saw force as a solution. The National Conference (NC) leader also sought to know the implications of the move on the NIA investigations into the terror funding cases in the Valley.

Abdullah was reacting to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh statement about the appointment of former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma as the Centre's representative for a dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir.

"Centre announces an interlocutor to engage with stake holders in J&K. Will keep an open mind and wait to see results of the dialogue process," the former chief minister said in one of the tweets he posted after the announcement.

Referring to the home minister's statement that Sharma would try to understand the legitimate aspirations of the people of the state, Abdullah sought to know who would define which of the demands are genuine.

"The 'legitimate aspirations' of people of J&K is an interesting formulation. Who gets to decide what is legitimate?" he tweeted. He also sought to know the fate of the probe into terror funding cases.

"What does this mean for the NIA investigation in J&K? Will investigation be suspended to facilitate dialogue with detained Hurriyat leaders?" he asked.

Abdullah said the Centre's move on a dialogue was a resounding defeat for those who saw force as the only solution to Kashmir issue.