Jammu and Kashmir opposition Peoples' Democratic Party on Thursday said the choice of Centre's interlocutors for holding talks with people of Valley has put a dampener on the hopes generated by the visit of the all-party delegation to the state last month.
"The atmosphere of hope generated by the recent all-party meeting in New Delhi and the visit of all-party delegation has been dampened by choice of interlocutors announced (by the Centre) on Wednesday," PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said in Srinagar.
She said though the three interlocutors are eminent and highly respected personalities in their fields, the PDP feels their nomination for the Kashmir mission reflects a lack of appreciation of the problem at hand in the state.
Mehbooba said the all-party initiative by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had acted as a message for the people of Kashmir that the country and its political class were concerned about their sentiments and problems.
"The visit of leaders from the entire political spectrum had conveyed a rare sense of urgency and seriousness about the people who have historically been at the receiving end of neglect. This had perhaps played some role in restoring a semblance of normalcy in the Valley that has been hit by an unprecedented crisis on security, political, economic and governance fronts," she said.
Mehbooba said it was expected by the people that Centre would utilise this opportunity to seriously address the situation in Kashmir. "But, by keeping the political class once again out of the process, it seems there is no change in the mindsets at decision making levels," she said, adding that it would have been appropriate to nominate a group of prominent political leaders from the main parties to maintain the tempo of the prime minister's initiative which had shown signs of a national consensus emerging on the resolution of the problem.
The PDP president said, "While release of 50 detainees was announced with fanfare, dozens others are arrested everyday. Making a media show of removal of some unused bunkers in Srinagar is followed by establishment of more garrisons across the Valley and induction of more forces...," she said.
A three-member panel consisting of Information Commissioner M M Ansari, noted academician Radha Kumar and eminent journalist Dilip Padgaonkar was on Wednesday appointed by the Centre to hold 'sustained dialogue' with people of Jammu and Kashmir.