Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Lone on Thursday expected that the recent All Parties meeting of J&K leaders convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi starts a phase of reconciliation between Delhi and Srinagar.

Talking to media persons in Srinagar after attending the PM’s meeting with J&K leaders, Lone said that we have to make an enabling environment for facilitating the delivery of the issues discussed in the meeting in which Home Minister Amit Shah was also present.

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He urged the leaders who participated in the meeting to realize that restoration of statehood for J&K etc is a long process and asked them not to create hurdles by rhetorical statements that might be able to address their constituents but would make the delivery difficult. And if delivery becomes difficult there is only one loser which is the people of Kashmir.

Lone welcomed the initiative of Modi by convening the meeting that was held after more than two years of upheaval. The leadership demands we look towards the future for a bright tomorrow rather than something in the recent past with which we don’t agree with. We hope it starts a phase of reconciliation between Delhi and Srinagar.

Lone refused to divulge the deliberations of the meeting but said “I don’t think there was any single leader who did not make their people proud. All parties especially from the Kashmir region made their people proud. All spoke well and reflected the pain of the people. I as a Kashmir and not as a political leader felt proud that all leaders spoke for the people of Kashmir and reflected their pain in a befitting manner. If we were to give marks, I would give equal marks to all Kashmiri leaders present in the meeting”.

Referring to suggestions of boycotting the assembly elections if the demands of Kashmiri leaders were not accepted by the centre, Lone stressed that boycotting elections has yielded no results. We should look at the other side as well as keeping away the opponents could be a trap. We have boycotted elections for 15-20 years, what if it is a trap to scare away all the good people and bring in their proxies? The leadership would have to look at both sides.

Lone stood by the party’s decision of disowning a former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Baig who is reported to have said in the PM’s meeting that discussion on abrogation of Article 370 should not be held as the matter was sub-judice. Baig had a few months ago joined the Peoples Conference after quitting the PDP following differences with Mehbooba Mufti.