The government will not hold a dialogue with mainstream political parties and the Hurriyat Conference but talk directly to the people, Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik said in an interview to HT.
“Political dialogue is important but we will engage with the Kashmiri civil society. There will be no dialogue with the mainstream political parties or the separatists. How can you have a dialogue with someone who said there will be no one to hold the national tricolour?” said Malik.
Read Satya Pal Malik’s full interview here.
His comments come at a time when there has been anger over the continued detention of political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, most of whom were put under house arrest following the Union government’s decision to strip the region of its special status.
Malik also defended himself on having asked people not to believe in “rumours” about the special status being taken away in the run-up to the announcement on August 5 . “I said what was right... I have sworn secrecy under the Constitution. The people should have known.”