Interlocutors begin fifth visit to Kashmir

JAMMU - The three government-appointed interlocutors on Kashmir arrived in Jammu Monday and held discussions with the governor and chief minister as they appeared to be exploring the gaps that existed between the administration and the human rights situation in the state.

The interlocutors - journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, academician Radha Kumar and economist M.M. Ansari - held detailed discussions on the situation in the state against the backdrop of the killing of Manzoor Ahmad in an army ambush in Handwara and the murder of two sisters in Sopore, according to sources.

The interlocutors are seeking to grasp the human rights situation in the state and the changes it has undergone over the years. This is their fifth visit to the state.

The army maintains that only 3.5 percent charges of excesses were found to have some basis, while the rest 96.5 percent were either motivated or part of the malicious propaganda of the vested interests in the state.

Human rights occupy a special position in the discourse in Kashmir where political groups and separatists and the human rights groups have been charging the security forces with mauling the rights of the people.

Sources said that the interlocutors took up these points with Governor N.N. Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.