PM's initiative a "joke" with the people of Kashmir: PDP

Jammu and Kashmir's main opposition PDP tonight dismissed as a "joke with the people of Kashmir" Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's fresh initiative to end the unrest in the Valley.

Jammu and Kashmir's main opposition PDP tonight dismissed as a "joke with the people of Kashmir" Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's fresh initiative to end the unrest in the Valley.

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"The Prime Minister's statement (at the meeting with an all-party delegation from the state) is a joke with the people
of Kashmir", PDP patron and former chief minister Mufti Mohd Sayeed said.

Sayeed described as a "futile exercise" the meeting the PM had with the delegation alleging "nothing will come out of
it".

He said Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had convened a meeting of all political parties a month ago
and decided to send a delegation to meet the Prime Minister.

However, all the parties had already met Singh separately before today's meeting, Sayeed added.

The Mufti said economic and employment package was not a solution to the Kashmir problem and suggested the separatists,
including hardline Hurryat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, be invited to resolve the issue.