I will talk to all the stakeholders once I visit J&K, Hurriyat shares equal space, says Dineshwar Sharma

Jammu and Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, J&K interlocutor, Rajnath Singh, I&B minister, Kashmir, Narendra Modi, J&K unrest, Mehbooba Mufti, India news, Indian Express

Dineshwar Sharma, newly appointed as the government’s special representative for Jammu and Kashmir, has a tough task ahead, considering that the government had cracked down only a few months ago on Hurriyat leaders and on protesters pelting stones. At a time when all eyes will be on whether and how he engages with the Hurriyat leadership, the 1979-batch IPS officer from the Kerala cadre, a former IB director, said the Hurriyat shares equal space among the stakeholders. Excerpts from an interview:

Having served in Kashmir earlier, what will be your approach towards conflict resolution?

I am likely to visit Kashmir next week and speak to all the stakeholders. As the Union home minister has said, I will be talking to all the stakeholders, which means I will be talking to all Indian citizens living in Kashmir. It will also depend upon how things go once I visit Kashmir. The Hurriyat shares equal space.

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In the past, the government has appointed interlocutors/committees on Kashmir. How is it going to be different this time?

Let me first visit Kashmir. I will go through the reports prepared by earlier committees and interlocutors to see what recommendations were made and what happened to them. I will look into all of this and meet the people of Kashmir. Only after that can I say how different this [special representative] can be.

What are your terms of engagement since the government has maintained in the past that any talks can only be within the framework of the Constitution? Have any terms of reference been given?

I have not received anything in writing from the government. But as the home minister has already announced, it is going to be wide-ranging; that means leave it totally to me. At least, that is what I could make out from his press conference.

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Will you also reach out to people of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir?

My mandate is to speak to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. I am not going to hold any dialogue with the people of PoK. Upon my visit, I will assess the situation on the ground and then take a call on which group needs to be engaged first and the future dialogue process.