Centre to talk to J&K legislators: Advani

Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani on Friday said the Centre would soon start a dialogue with the elected representatives of Jammu and Kashmir, in its attempt to resolve the Kashmir problem.

The dialogue would later be extended to other sections who did not participate in the assembly election or did not get elected, he told reporters after attending a meeting of the Unified Command, responsible for maintenance of security in the state.

He also said infiltration from across the border has increased from the third week of November after a brief lull.

The deputy prime minister, who earlier held separate talks with Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and Governor G C Saxena, cautioned against expecting peace to automatically follow the election.

"The people of the state have experienced real democracy this time. So I feel a new opportunity has been presented to us for the restoration of normalcy in the state," he said.

He, however, said violence by Pakistan-sponsored militants had increased lately and cited the killing of People's Democratic Party legislator Abdul Aziz Mir, besides the attack on the Raghunath temple.

"Infiltration has increased since the 3rd week of November, after a drop, immediately after the polls," he said, pointing out that foreign component of infiltrating terrorists was constantly rising and comprised three-fourth of the intruders.

"Under international pressure, Pakistan had for a brief period wound up or shifted terrorist camps from the border.  But these have now been reactivated," he said.

Meanwhile, Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah welcomed Advani's statement and expressed hope that the exercise would be a "sincere" one.

"The statement of the deputy prime minister is heartening and we hope that the talks will begin as soon as possible," Shah, who arrived in the capital on Friday evening, said.

He said it was a "good step" in the right direction, as the people of the state believed that the solution to the Kashmir problem was only through dialogue and not through violence.

He, however, cautioned that the Centre should show some sincerity and desist from repeating the past experience of either leaving the process of dialogue halfway or "only paying a lip service".