Kashmir interlocutors submit first report

NEW DELHI - The team of interlocutors on Kashmir Tuesday presented its first report to the government, days after return from a visit to the troubled state that has been rocked by violent protests and civilian killings since June.

The three interlocutors — Dileep Padgaonkar, Radha Kumar and M.M. Ansari - met Home Minister P. Chidambaram at his office and gave their initial recommendations to him.

“We gave a series of recommendations and suggestions… We are now preparing to go back to Jammu and Kashmir. We shall do so as early as in 10 days and travel to district headquarters in the state,” Padgaonkar told reporters outside the home ministry office.

The three were appointed by the home minister last month for a “serious dialogue to find a political solution” to the problems in the state following stone-pelting protests since June 11 that saw some 110 civilians killed, mostly in firing by security forces.

The interlocutors have a year-long mandate to talk to all shades of political opinion in Kashmir and suggest ways to solve the problem.

The three paid a six-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir late last month, meeting many leaders, students and families amid a boycott by separatist leaders in the valley and of political parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in Jammu.