NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday appointed three experts to lead a dialogue process in Indian Kashmir with the aim of defusing simmering anger in the region after months of deadly protests. Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the government had selected senior journalist Dilip Padgaonkar, professor M.M. Ansari and academic Radha Kumar to hold talks with Kashmiri separatists and common people in the restive state. “I would appeal to all sections of people of (the state of) Jammu and Kashmir to engage with the interlocutors,” Chidambaram told reporters in New Delhi. Indian-administered Kashmir has seen some of its worst rioting and demonstrations over the last four months which have left 110 civilians dead, mostly in police firing. The appointment of the experts follows previous initiatives to address local grievances. Up to 16 security bunkers have been dismantled in the main city of Srinigar, a fraction of the total, and 50 protesters have been released from jail. Syed Ali Geelani, the hardline separatist leader who has organised the protests in Indian Kashmir, dismissed the latest announcement as “futile.” “It is a futile exercise to hoodwink the international community,” Geelani said, adding: “The step is not going to lead anywhere.” Chidambaram said the experts would reach out to students and young people who have spearheaded the protests, which pitted thousands of stone-throwing youngsters against heavily armed security forces. “We think they are very credible people, people with good track records and they can begin their work as early as possible,” he said. The unrest has left the the government grappling for solutions to the outpouring of anger in Kashmir, where a 20-year insurgency has declined in intensity but desire for an independent Kashmir remains strong. – Agence France
