10 August :Appealing the people of Jammu & Kashmir to maintain age old tradition of communal harmony Union Home Minister, Shivraj patil has expressed confluence that a solution to the ongoing Shri Amaranth land row will be evolved which will be acceptable to all.
Addressing media at the conclusion of his two day visit to Jammu & Kashmir at Srinagar today as head of the All Parties Delegation, Shri Patil said that he has met delegations of all parties in Srinagar today after yesterday’s meeting with political leaders and representatives of Shri Amarnath Sangarsh Simiti in Jammu. He said that in today’s deliberations many valuable suggestions have come up for effectively dealing with the situation and restoring peace and normalcy. He said that the delegation will deliberate upon these suggestions and submit a report to the Union Government.
Assuring that all steps will be taken to maintain law and order and to keep Jammu – Srinagar Highway open, he announced that fruit growers of the valley will be provided all assistance in exporting their fruit to other parts of the country and even if there are any losses to them these will be compensated. He said that government will purchase the fruit that has not reached the markets in time due to recent happenings and this will be utilized by armed forces, police and other agencies. He however maintain that there had been some difficulty in carrying the fruit for two – three days but now things were better and all arrangements were in place to ensure the country and vice versa. In reply to a question about proposed march of fruit growers with trucks towards Muzaffarabad, the Union Home Minister appealed the fruit growers that they should do nothing which could reduce importance of the manner with which the central and state government is dealing with the issue. He expressed hope that good sense will prevail and nothing of this sort will be down. The Union Home Minister said that Shri Amarnath Yatra should continue as per the past practice and this has been the opinion of people both in Jammu and Srinagar.
Expressing sorrow over the loss of life and property in the recent incidents, Shri Patil announced that the victims of the violence will be duly compensated and apart from compensation from the state, Union Home Ministry will also provide compensation to the effected families.
Earlier the delegation had detailed meetings with representatives of almost all main stream parties in the Kashmir valley. The political parties apprized the delegation about their perception about the recent happenings and the measures to be taken to tide over the situation. The Home Minster also reviewed over all law and order situation in the state in the meeting of senior officers of army, para military forces and police.