Congress party’s ‘policy planning group’ held its first meeting in New Delhi under the chairmanship of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and “expressed concern” on the prevailing in the Kashmir valley.Congress state president G A Mir told KNS that the first “introductory meeting” in which all the members put forward their point of view.“All the members were heard by the chairman of the group, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The prime concern was expressed about the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The main agenda of the policy group will be discussed and finalized in the next meeting,” Mir told KNS.Mir said that the initiatives and roadmap which our party had started during UPA-led government were compared with the present government.“The present government has no policy on Kashmir,” he said.“During our government, students were safe both inside and outside Kashmir; tourism was on peak and going well smoothly, development schemes were implemented. On Kashmir, Working groups were formed and interlocutors were sent to Kashmir,” Mir said.“This government (BJP) has destroyed all those initiatives,” he said.
The group, headed by Manmohan Singh, was constituted by party chief Sonia Gandhi after senior leader Tariq Hameed Karra urged the party high command to take concrete steps regarding the resolution of Kashmir issue.The group comprising nine leaders, including Singh has been constituted with the aim to hold dialogue with all stakeholders and help in peace building.Besides Manmohan Singh, other eight leaders in the group are senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Karan Singh, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, General Secretary of AICC, Ambika Soni, JKPCC Chief, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, Senior Congress leader, Nawang Rigzin Jora, Senior Congress leader and former MP, Tariq Hameed Karra, and senior Congress leader, Shyam Lal Sharma.However, Chidambaram could not attend the meeting as he was busy in Chennai, Mir said. (KNS)