New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday that the government will consider the demand for autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir if there was autonomy among political parties on the issue.
The Prime Minister said this after meeting an all party delegation from Jammu and Kashmir led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. It lasted nearly four hours.
However, Singh added that the autonomy would be within the ambit of the Constitution. Prime Minister also said that the presence of senior ministers of at the meeting showed the seriousness of his government's commitment to address the Kashmir issue.
The meeting was held to appraise the Prime Minister with the volatile situation in the Kashmir Valley.
Leaders of the main opposition party in the state, the People's Democratic Party had boycotted the meeting. After the meeting, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said the meeting was good and that the Prime Minister heard all the views of delegation members.
Sources say that at the meeting, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was pulled up for failing to handle the violence in the Valley in which over 50 protestors were killed in police action since June 11.
However, Omar defended his government's handling of the situation. He also told the Prime Minister that most parties in the state were not in favour of Governor's rule.
It is also learnt that the National Conference put forward the demand for autonomy for Kashmir while the Panthers Party demanded delimitation of constituencies.
Meanwhile, the PDP has dismissed as a "joke with the people of Kashmir" Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's fresh initiative to end the unrest in the Valley.
"The Prime Minister's statement (at the meeting with an all-party delegation from the state) is a joke with the people of Kashmir", PDP patron and former chief minister Mufti Mohd Sayeed said.
Sayeed described as a "futile exercise" the meeting the PM had with the delegation alleging "nothing will come out of it".
Earlier in the evening, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh issued an appeal to the youth and said they should go back to their schools and colleges and resume studies.
"Key to the problem in Kashmir is a political solution that addresses the alienation and emotional needs of the people," Singh said.
Singh added that a political solution could only be achieved through a sustained internal and external dialogue.
"We are ready for this and are willing to discuss all issues within the bounds of democratic process," he said.
In a televised speech in Urdu, he said he could understand the "dard aur mayusi" of the people.
Calling for a new beginning, the Prime Minister said there had been very little development ("bahut kam tarakki") in Jammu and Kashmir.
Singh also spoke on the role of security forces in the Valley and urged the state government to take action to protect policemen and their families.
"Jammu and Kashmir Police and other security forces are performing an extremely challenging task in difficult circumstances... we should not do anything to demoralise the security forces," he added.
Prime Minister Singh also proposed to set up an expert group headed by Dr C Rangarajan with N R Naryanmurthy, Tarun Das and others to formulate a jobs plan for the state involving both public and private sectors.
(With IANS and PTI inputs)
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