Chidambaram to visit Jammu and Kashmir

JAMMU - Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram will visit Jammu and Kashmir soon to undertake a review of the situation there, an official said Saturday.

The visit may take place this month itself, the official told IANS on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The home minister has been closely monitoring the Kashmir situation and is scheduled to visit anytime now, the official added.

Chidambaram had in early November last year visited the north Kashmir town of Baramulla, one of the centres of the five-month long unrest in Kashmir.

More than 110 people were killed due to frequent curfews and shutdowns.

According to informed sources in the government, the home minister will study the ground impact of the three interlocutors - journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, economist M.M. Ansari and academician Radha Kumar - who have been holding talks with various sections of the people across the state ever since their appointment in October last year.

Though he has already appreciated the interlocutors’ role in helping improve the situation, he would like to have his own impression, an official said.

Chidambaram is also likely to renew his offer of dialogue to separatists, sources said.