Centre's talks offer golden chance to end Kashmir row: Mehbooba
Srinagar, June 11: Asserting that the offer of talks to separatists and the Ramadan ceasefire were the beginning of a dialogue process, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday asked the separatists not to miss this "golden opportunity".
Speaking after inaugurating a bridge here, she said: "For ending uncertainty and providing lasting peace in the state, everyone including the separatists should come forward and respond to the Home Minister's offer of dialogue to resolve he Jammu and Kashmir issue and other problems of the state.
"I feel that somewhere efforts are being made to carry forward the political process. How far can the political process be taken will depend on how good the situation remains on the ground," she told reporters.
The Chief Minister added: "This is a golden opportunity. It does not happen very often that a very powerful Prime Minister makes such an offer. It was 18 years back that cessation of operations happened during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure.
"At that time, talks were held at the level of Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani.
"That process appears to have been repeated now, but we cannot force anyone. We hope the separatists seize the opportunity."
She expressed sadness over the continuing violence by the militants by way of grenade attacks, firing at security forces and through weapon snatching attempts.
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Women's reservation must be implemented without being made contingent on delimitation: CM
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said that the Women's Reservation Bill is a long-overdue reform that must be implemented immediately within the existing framework, without being made contingent on delimitation.
Terming the delimitation as the political re-engineering at the cost of southern states, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said that these states will stand united, speak in one voice, and defend the true spirit of federalism.
The leaders' statements came a day before the Constitutional Amendment Bill with provisions on women's reservation implementation and delimitation was tabled in the Lok Sabha.
"You are right in highlighting the larger implications of the proposed delimitation approach and the concerns it raises for southern states. We wholeheartedly support the Women's Reservation Bill - it is a long-overdue reform that must be implemented immediately within the existing framework, without being made contingent on delimitation," Siddaramaiah said in a post on 'X'.
He was replying to his Telangana counterpart A Revanth Reddy's post on 'X' with a letter, urging the former to unitedly resist moves to push a pro rata model to increase Lok Sabha seats, which would be highly detrimental and inimical to the interests of southern states.
"Any exercise that reshapes political representation must be undertaken with utmost care. The Union Government must engage all states in a transparent and consultative process, and ensure that fairness, federal balance, and consensus guide this critical decision," Siddaramaiah added.
Shivakumar said that this is not a delimitation, but political re-engineering "at the cost of southern states".
"The proposal to increase Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 850 will systematically reduce the voice of the South, while rewarding unchecked population growth elsewhere. This is nothing but punishing progress and good governance," he posted on 'X'.
Clarifying that Congress fully supports women's reservation and in fact, it was party's top leader Sonia Gandhi's vision and commitment that brought this dream to the national agenda, the Deputy CM said, "We demand that it be implemented without linking it to delimitation or seat expansion."
"I urge the Union Govt to not hide behind women's empowerment to push a deely unfair political agenda. Rushing such a massive restructuring of India's democracy during elections, without transparency or consultation, is deeply suspicious and unacceptable," he said.
Asserting that India's strength lies in balance not domination, and in fairness, not manipulation, Shivakumar said, "The Southern states will stand united, speak in one voice, and defend the true spirit of federalism."
"We will not allow the South to be politically marginalised."
