Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Somnath Chatterjee on Thursday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government for making 'cosmetic changes' in its policy towards Jammu and Kashmir.
The veteran parliamentarian told rediff.com that the Government of India should have appointed a "political person" as an interlocutor instead of appointing an administrator.
The government on Wednesday appointed former Union home secretary N N Vohra as its pointman for peace talks with various outfits in Kashmir. He replaced K C Pant, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.
"I have nothing personal against Vohra. He is a fine officer and a good administrator. But it would have been better if the government had appointed a political person in his place instead. After all Kashmir is a political problem and not an administrative one," he said.
He wondered what would be the brief of Vohra and how much freedom he would be given to talk to the various groups in Kashmir. "The government has to be serious about this aspect. It cannot make just cosmetic changes and hope that something would come out of it," he said.
But Bhim Singh, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panther's Party, welcomed the appointment of Vohra. He hoped the appointment would accelerate efforts to address the problems faced by the people of the state.
"I urge the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and other organisations to come forward and hold talks with Vohra," he said.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Home I D Swami on Thursday said that there could be some delay in notifying the appointment of former Union home secretary N N Vohra as the Centre's representative in talks on the Kashmir issue.
He said that Vohra's brief would be more or less the same as was given to Planning Commission Deputy Chairman K C Pant
Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley would continue to focus his discussions with the J&K government on the issue of autonomy, Swami said.
Vohra has said that he is yet to get any formal intimation about his appointment.