• 21:35
  • Tuesday ,21 September 2010
العربية

India MPs meet Kashmir separatist

By-BBC

International News

00:09

Tuesday ,21 September 2010

India MPs meet Kashmir separatist

A separatist leader in Indian-administered Kashmir has met five members of an all-party delegation of Indian politicians from Delhi.

Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who is viewed as a hardline separatist, had earlier refused to meet the delegation.
 
Other separatists have so far boycotted the visit, the first by an all-party Indian team to Kashmir in two decades.
 
The group of almost 40 MPs aims to halt violent protests that have claimed more than 100 lives in Kashmir since June.
 
The BBC's Altaf Hussain in Indian-administered Kashmir's main city of Srinagar says the Indian government is trying to build a consensus among the country's major parties on how to deal with the situation.
 
During their two-day visit, the delegation plans to consult members of the public and Kashmiri politicians in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley.
 
But there is resentment among many people who want to meet the visitors, but have so far been unable to do so because the valley remains under curfew.
 
Mr Geelani leads the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference (HC), a separatist group, and is currently under house arrest.
 
Our correspondent says Mr Geelani's decision to talk to the MPs is unexpected because he has been a strident critic of Delhi's policy in the region. He said ahead of the visit that he would not meet the delegation.
 
Up until now the delegation has only met pro-India politicians and business leaders.
 
Two other prominent separatists - Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, head of the moderate wing of the HC, and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yasin Malik - have so far refused to meet the Indian MPs.
 
But officials linked to the delegation say they are also confident that they will be able to speak to Mr Farooq before their departure from Srinagar.
 
Several people were injured on Monday in the latest clashes between protesters and security forces in the valley.
 
Over the weekend, police and protesters again clashed violently as residents continued to defy curfew.
 
Anti-India sentiment is high in the region, which has been under an almost round-the-clock curfew for more than a week.
 
The delegation is led by Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram and includes lawmakers from all major national parties.
 
The government announced the all-party fact-finding mission last week after an emergency meeting in the capital, Delhi.
 
Kashmir has been on the boil since June, with tens of thousands of protesters taking to the streets.
 
Protesters in the mainly Muslim valley have been hurling stones at troops and demanded independence from India.
 
Many analysts see the recent unrest as the biggest challenge to Indian rule in Kashmir for 20 years.