Srinagar, July 27: Mired in internal strife and controversies, New Delhi-appointed interlocutors Wednesday decided against visiting Jammu and Kashmir on July 29. And this last minute change of mind, according to sources, comes in the backdrop of several issues, including the controversy over the fact that head of the panel Dileep Padgaonkar attended an international conference organized by US-based Ghulam Nabi Fai, arrested by FBI for ‘illegally’ lobbying for Pakistan.
The panel members, including journalist Padgaonkar, academic Radha Kumar and former Information Commissioner MM Ansari, were scheduled to visit Jammu and Kashmir on July 29 to “visit four districts which they have not visited before and also hold another round-table conference on J&K issue in Jammu.”
But, according to highly placed sources, the interlocutors changed the plan at the eleventh hour “sensing that the controversy over the Fai issue, which is still afresh, might cause some degree of discomfiture to them at the moment.” Also, they disclosed, the panel members got a missive from organizers of the Round-Table Conference that “Jammu was in the midst of a controversy over the establishment of the Central University and it would therefore not be appropriate to visit the place at this point in time.”
Pertinently, the Round-Table Conference was being held in Jammu, reportedly at the Jammu University.
Sources said the interlocutors have now decided to visit the state either in the second or third week of August or immediately after Eid-ul-Fitr. “At this juncture, the interlocutors could have faced a volley of questions over the internal strife and Fai controversy. So they must have deemed it appropriate to delay the visit by few weeks so that these issues die down and they are in a much better position to do the job smoothly,” the sources said. “Also, the letter to the panel by organizers of the event would have contributed to the idea of postponement.”
When contacted, an interlocutor, wishing anonymity, said: “Yes the July 29 visit stands postponed. But I don’t think it has much to do with Fai issue. We got a letter from the organizers of the event that the visit should be postponed for certain reasons. So we did accordingly. Also, we thought that the holy month of Ramadhan is just starting and we must delay the visit by some weeks. But we are thinking of visiting the state in the third week of August.”
Pertinently the Padgaonkar-Fai link had triggered a huge controversy, with MM Ansari going on record to seek Padgaonkar’s resignation. “It is very strange and unfortunate. We need persons of impeccable integrity and character to resolve an issue as contentious as Kashmir. Was the Government of India aware about Dileep attending the conference organised by Fai before it appointed him?” Ansari told a New Delhi based newspaper recently.
The newspaper quoted Ansari as saying that while he could not speak for Padgaonkar, if he had been in the same position, he would have “quit immediately”.
Referring to Padgaonkar’s claim that he “had no idea” about Fai’s antecedents, Ansari wondered: “How can you attend a conference without knowing the credibility of the individuals and the institutions?”
But after days of controversy, the Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday downplayed the issue, saying: “Frankly, it has nothing to do with his role as interlocutor. He went as a journalist some years back along with many other journalists, many other civil society members and human rights activists. Whether he should have gone or not is a separate issue. I don’t think that should be linked with his role as an interlocutor because he did not attend any meeting of Ghulam Nabi Fai after he was appointed as an interlocutor. I don’t think it’s a fair connection.”
(www.greaterkashmir.com)
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