Rajnath Singh mentioned that the outreach process will begin soon and the special focus would be the youth of Kashmir.
Centre has decided to start a sustained dialogue in Jammu and Kashmir and this outreach programme will be led by former Intelligence Bureau director Dineshwar Sharma.
"Dineshwar Sharma will initiate dialogue with elected representatives of Jammu and Kashmir, political parties, different organisations and people, " said Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh during a press conference on Monday.
Dineshwar Sharma will be government's representative and take the decision on his future interaction with concerned parties. Dineshwar Sharma rank will be equivalent to that of a Cabinet Secretary.
The initiative has been taken as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day address, the home minister said.
"It's a big responsibility, hope I live up to expectations",ANI reported Dineshwar Sharma as saying.
Rajnath Singh mentioned that the outreach process will begin soon and the special focus would be the youth of Kashmir.
"The government representative, Dineshwar Sharma, will have all the rights to engage whatever parties he wishes to," said the Home Minister. He said that the government is going to engage all political parties and stakeholders to ensure that peace is restored in the valley.
"The government is going to address the legitimate apprehensions of the state populace and try to restore peace in the valley," claimed Singh.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has welcomed Central government's initiative terming it the only way forward.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has tweeted his apprehensions on the steps taken by the Centre.
The “legitimate aspirations” of people of J&K is an interesting formulation. Who gets to decide what is legitimate?
But he has expressed that he will keep an open mind and wait for the results of the dialogue process.
Dineshwar Sharma, a 1979-batch (retired) officer of the Indian Police Service, served as the IB director between December, 2014 and 2016.
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