BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav said on Thursday that the doors of the Cantre as well the Jammu and Kashmir government are open for all stakeholders in the state who want to come for a dialogue without any preconditions.
"We said from the beginning. We maintained that our doors are open to all stakeholders in the state. They are welcome to come and have a dialogue with the state government… as well as whoever wants to talk to the central government, we are open," Madhav told reporters here. "We are open to all those who want to come and have a dialogue without any preconditions," he said. He, however, said that questions should be asked to those who do not want to go for dialogue.
The statement comes 10 days after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh made a similar statement during his visit to the Valley, saying he was ready to talk to all stakeholders. Madhav's remarks also comes a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to the people of the restive state from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 70th Independence Day, saying "neither 'goli' (bullets) nor 'gaali' (abuses) can solve the Kashmir issue, and it can only be addressed by embracing Kashmiris".
"When we say Kashmir is ours, it means Kashmiris are our own people. The Prime Minister's statement will be the way forward for our government", said Madhav.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which shares power in J&K with the BJP, was quick to welcome Madhav's statement.
"Decision now lies with [separatist] Hurriyat. If they believe they are well wishers of the people, then why conditionalities? Everyone is convinced that dialogue is the way forward," said Waheed-ur-Rehman Para, PDP youth president.
Former J&K Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah described Madhav's statement as "very significant. "A very significant statement from Ram Madhav, especially the part about the dialogue having no preconditions", tweeted Omar.
In April, the Centre had informed the Supreme Court that it cannot hold talks with Kashmiri separatists or with Pakistan in the current situation in the Valley where tension between civilians and security forces had escalated.
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