Trust will not fall from heaven; appoint group of MPs for Jammu and Kashmir: Sitaram Yechury

NEW DELHI: Cultivating trust in Jammu and Kashmir is not 'manna' (heavenly gift) but needs "tangible and concrete actions" like constituting a small group of MPs to constantly and periodically interact with all stakeholders, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury has said.
Yechury, who has been part of all-party delegations that have visited Kashmir since 2008, candidly said he was very "disturbed" with the alienation which he found was deeper now than any time before.

"It was a very disturbing experience to be there in this time in Srinagar. Disturbing in the sense that I have not seen the degree of alienation so deep any time before," the CPI(M) General Secretary told PTI here.

He said he had been to the state in the troubled times of 2008 and 2010 with parliamentary delegations, but "somehow the feedback or the vibes this time were very disturbing. Why this alienation, is something that still bothers me."

Yechury favoured creation of a small group of MPs for constantly monitoring the situation in the Valley and holding talks on a regular basis with the stakeholders.

"The effectiveness of the decisions we took and the statement we adopted at the all-party delegation level are crucially dependent on the sincerity of the government in implementing it.

"I have said in the meeting itself that mere repetition of 'Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat' that (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee used or the coinage of 'Vikas and Vishwas' that the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) used, are meaningless unless they are backed by concrete actions.

"Vishwas (trust) is not manna to fall from heaven, it has to be created. Vishwas has to be created, and if it has to be created, there have to be tangible steps on the ground," he said and reasoned that the slogan of Vajpayee was backed by the declaration of unilateral ceasefire - 'Ramzan ceasefire', followed by interactions with separatists which continued till January 2004.

'Manna' is the food miraculously dropped to people traversing through the wilderness of deserts, according to holy scriptures.

"What I was telling this government is that mere phrases will not deliver. Phrases along with tangible and concrete actions will help," he said.