Srinagar, Sept. 19: Politics appears to have kicked in even before the high-profile all-party delegation led in all likelihood by the Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, arrives in this curfew-bound state capital on Monday morning.
The president of the People’s Democratic Party, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, on Sunday indicated that her party might not attend the meeting, as she accused the Omar Abdullah-led state government of trying to orchestrate who would get to meet the delegation members.
A decision on whether the PDP would meet the delegation would be taken only on Monday morning, she said.
On a day when four more people were killed in the strife-torn Valley, raising the death toll in three months of violence to 104, the Chief Minister, Mr Omar Abdullah, vowed he would “overcome this crisis”.
Speaking to this newspaper at her Gupkar Road residence, Ms Mufti, wondered why the state government had imposed a three-day curfew here beginning Sunday just when the delegation was due to arrive and despite the fact that the Hurriyat hardliner, Mr S.A.S. Geelani had not issued any call for a shutdown on Sunday.