Kashmir unrest: Mehbooba Mufti calls all-party meeting, NC to boycott

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has called an all-party meeting on Thursday to discuss the situation in the violence-hit state.

However, Omar Abdullah-led National Conference has decided to boycott the meeting, saying that actions in the recent past have shown that there was no "effective leadership" in the state government.

In a two-page letter to senior Minister of PDP Abdul Rehman Veeri, National Conference said in absence of any "credible, effective and humane leadership" in the state, an all party meeting was a "futile" and "meaningless" exercise.

Mehbooba had announced on Monday that she had convened an all-party meeting on July 21 to discuss the prevailing law and order situation in the Kashmir Valley.

The decision to convene the meeting came days after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on July 8, which led to violent clashes between protesters and law enforcing agencies across the Valley, leaving over 40 people dead and over 4,000 injured.

The National Conference, which has 15 members in the 87-member state assembly, while rejecting the offer to attend the meeting asked the state government to come clear on various issues which includes the killing of Wani.

"On one hand a senior police official says that the Chief Minister, who is also the Home Minister of the state, was in complete knowledge about the operation, on the other a senior Parliament Member of PDP (Muzzafar Hussain Baig) claims that the killing of Wani was done by a section of police to discredit the Chief Minister," the letter written by senior NC leader Ali Mohammed Sagar said.

The National Conference said it took the state government nearly two weeks to call for an important meeting whereas the Chief Minister took no time in calling a civil society meeting which indicates that she has no respect for elected people.

The letter also drew the attention towards banning of newspapers and double speaking by the state government. "Education Minister (Naeem Akhter) told them not bring out newspapers and on the other Mehbooba's Advisor (Amitabh Mattoo) claimed that there was no ban and the Chief Minister was unaware about it."

"There seems to no effective leadership in the state government and until credibility is not established, no meetings will be ever successful," the letter said while reaffirming that National Conference was committed for peace in the state.

Earlier, National Conference President Omar Abdullah called on Governor N N Vohra and submitted a memorandum about the situation in the state.

With PTI inputs