PDP asks all-party team to consider out of box solutions

The opposition PDP in Jammu and Kashmir today asked the visiting all-party delegation to come out of the fixation and consider "out of box solutions" for resolving the Kashmir issue.

"Although we were given just 15 minutes to put our point, we have told the delegation that they have to come out of the fixation and come up with out of the box solutions to resolve the Kashmir issue. All suggestions from the mainstream or separatist quarters should be considered," PDP leader Nizamuddin Bhatt told reporters after meeting the team.

He said the all-party delegation should have visited the affected areas, including the hospital and district headquarters, to get a first hand account of the sufferings of the people.

Bhatt said the present crisis has been a simple outcome of two factors which need to be addressed - the long pending Kashmir dispute and immediate "mishandling" of the situating by the state government. 

He said the party has reiterated its demand for taking steps that will make the situating conducive for starting a process of resolution which included revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and removing the "gag on freedom of expression".

The Centre will have to take steps for "wriggling the people of the Valley from the siege and stop the killing so that they feel that they are living in a truly democratic system".