Parliamentary-civil society delegation in Srinagar

SRINAGAR - A parliamentary-civil society delegation, including Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan and Communist Party of India’s D. Raja, arrived here Friday on a three-day visit to the Kashmir Valley which has been in the throes of a massive unrest that has claimed 110 lives and left hundreds others wounded.

The unrest badly affected the entire summer season in Kashmir which is dependent on the tourism industry.

Immediately after its arrival, the delegation visited the family of 17-year old Tufail Ahmad Mattoo whose killing June 11 triggered the unrest.

Tufail was hit by a police fired tear smoke shell in the old city while he was returning home from tuition.

His killing triggered violent protests and shutdowns in Kashmir where the hardline separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani started issuing weekly calendars of protests that brought life to a virtual halt for over five months.

“They had come as members of the civil society that is why we met them. They have nothing to do with the government. They expressed their sympathies with us,” Muhammad Ashraf Mattoo, who lost his only son Tufail, told media persons.

The delegation also comprises Shoaib Iqbal of LJP, Gopal Choudary of Communist Party of India-Marxist, Namo Nageshwar Rao of Telugu Desam Party, Danish Ali of Janta Dal-Secular, Maheshwar Hazari of Janta Dal-United, Shahid Siddiqui of Rashtriya Lok Dal, film maker Mahesh Bhatt, journalist Seema Mustafa and academician Kamal Chenoy .

The delegation members said they were here on a “fact finding mission”.

They are scheduled to separatist leaders. Both Geelani as well as moderate leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq have agreed to meet the delegation members Saturday.

They will also meet Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik

The team during their three-day stay will also be meeting a cross section of the people here.