Ahead of an all-party meeting called by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, an uneasy calm prevailed across the Valley today as curfew was lifted from several parts of Kashmir. A shutdown call by the separatists, however, ensured that people stayed off the roads.
Ignoring a late-night personal appeal by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti stuck by her decision to stay away from Monday’s all-party meeting. Saying that the meeting would accomplish little, she urged the Prime Minister to personally intervene to resolve the Valley crisis.
“I thank the Prime Minister and Home Minister for having called me. But I expressed my inability to take part,” Mehbooba said at a hastily called press conference.
That setback apart, the beleaguered Omar — who has been battling questions over his leadership — got a shot in the arm today as a joint legislative party meeting of National Conference and the Congress, attended by NC president Farooq Abdullah as well as PCC chief Saifuddin Soz, expressed “full faith and confidence” in him. Led by Omar, the meeting appealed to the people of the state to maintain calm.
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