Kashmir all-party delegation aims to find solution for restoring peace in the Valley

Security jawans fire tear gas shells to disperse protesters who staged a protest march towards Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Thursday. PTI

Senior Congress leader and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the delegation was ready to hear "everyone".

The visit "will be beneficial for Kashmir and for the country," he said, adding everyone wants peace in the state.

Azad said it will be an opportunity for the parties and Kashmiri people to interact.

CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, another member of the team, said the all-party delegation should have gone two months ago "but let's hope that even now, we can make a difference".

LJP Chief and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said that the MPs are going with an open mind and want to interact with anyone who wants to talk within the framework of the Indian Constitution. "We are ready to talk," he said.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said all parties were cooperating with the government and their sole aim was restoration of normalcy in the state.

""We will try our best to bring back normalcy. We are cooperating with the government. It is the responsibility of the government to deal with the situation very intelligently.

"All parties are cooperating for that. So we hope that it will be resolved," he said.

Reaching out to separatists, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday invited their top leaders for talks with the delegation.

Mehbooba wrote letters to the leaders in her capacity as PDP chief, seeking their cooperation by engaging with the delegation.

Apart from the Home Minister and Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh, those who are part of the all-party team include Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, his Lok Sabha colleague Mallikarjun Kharge, senior Congress leader Ambika Soni, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP), JD-U leader Sharad Yadav, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI leader D Raja.

NCP's Tariq Anwar and Trinamool Congress' Saugata Roy, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut and Anandrao Adsul, TDP's Thota Narasimham, Shiromani Akali Dal's Prem Singh Chandumajra, BJD's Dilip Tirkey, AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi, AIUDF's Badaruddin Ajmal and Muslim League's E Ahamed will be party of the delegation.

TRS' Jitendra Reddy, N K Premchandran (RSP), P Venugopal (AIADMK), Tiruchi Siva (DMK), Y B Subba (YSR-Cong), Jaiprakash Yadav (RJD), Dharamveer Gandhi (AAP) and Dushyant Chautala (RLD) are also in the team.

BSP and Samajwadi Party have also extended their support.


Source:-firstpost
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Pakistan covets territory of others, uses terror as state policy towards that misguided end: India at UN

Syed Akbaruddin, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on Wednesday strongly hit back at Pakistan for raising the issues of alleged human rights violations in Kashmir and killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani during a debate on human rights.

Responding strongly to the remarks made by Pakistan's envoy Maleeha Lodhi during a high-level thematic debate titled 'UN@70 Human Rights at the center of the global agenda', Akbaruddin accused Islamabad of attempting to misuse the UN platform.

“The attempt came from Pakistan; a country that covets the territory of others; a country that uses terrorism as state policy towards that misguided end; a country that extols the virtues of terrorists and that provides sanctuary to UN-designated terrorists; and a country that masquerades its efforts as support for human rights and self determination,” the Indian envoy to the UN said in a hard-hitting statement.

He was responding to Lodhi who apart from raising the Kashmir issue had also mentioned the "extra-judicial" killing of Wani, whom she described as a "Kashmiri leader", by Indian forces.

Akbaruddin said it was Pakistan which had failed to convince the international community on its human rights track record.

“Pakistan is the same country whose track record has failed to convince the international community to gain membership of the Human Rights Council in this very Session of the UNGA,” he told the 193-member United Nations General Assembly.

“The international community has long seen through such designs. Cynical attempts, like the one this morning therefore, find no resonance in this forum or elsewhere in the United Nations,” he added.

Reiterating India's commitment to upholding the rule of law and protecting human rights, the Indian envoy said, “As a diverse, pluralistic and tolerant society, India’s commitment to the rule of law, democracy and human rights is enshrined in its founding principles.”

“We remain strongly committed to the promotion and protection of all human rights for all through pursuit of dialogue and cooperation,” he added.

Source: http://zeenews.india.com