Srinagar, Sept. 4: The all-party central delegation that arrived in Srinagar today is likely to return empty-handed tomorrow, with the separatists refusing to talk to it and snubbing its members who tried to approach them.
With only chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, her predecessor Omar Abdullah and other pro-India politicians meeting the team, many here described the exercise as "the Centre talking to itself".
Massive protests rocked the Valley today, with scores injured and the mini-secretariat in Shopian set on fire.
Home minister Rajnath Singh, who led the delegation, was visiting the Valley for the third time in the past few weeks. As during his previous two trips, no separatist "stake holder" or civil society member of repute would meet him or his team.
The delegation included finance minister Arun Jaitley, NDA ally Ram Vilas Paswan, Congress seniors Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ambika Soni, CPM boss Sitaram Yechury, the CPI's D. Raja, Janata Dal United MP Sharad Yadav and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MP Asaduddin Owaisi.
Some of the members later broke protocol to reach out to the separatists individually. Yechury, Raja and Yadav called on J&K Liberation Front leader Yasin Malik at Humhama jail but he refused to talk to them on the Kashmir dispute.
A front spokesman said Malik told the visitors the separatists weren't interested in talks held within the framework of the Constitution.
When the visitors drove to the home of Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who is under house arrest, they had to beat a hasty retreat as people there greeted them with pro- azadi slogans.
They then went to the Cheshma Shahi sub-jail to meet moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who exchanged pleasantries with them but refused to discuss Kashmir.
Owaisi too met the separatists but with the same result.
The team members also visited the home of moderate Hurriyat leader Abdul Gani Bhat.
"I thanked them for visiting my home but told them I would abide by the collective decision of not engaging with them," Bhat said.
Yechury said he had met Malik and the Mirwaiz but Geelani did not even open the door. "We can move forward only through talks," he said.
Owaisi said the Mirwaiz had told him that the separatists had decided not to talk to the visiting delegation because the Centre was "not serious about a political dialogue".
An official spokesperson said the team members met about 200 people from 30-odd civil society delegations.
During the 2010 agitation, separatist leaders had received visiting members such as Yechury, Owaisi and T.R. Baalu (DMK) with open arms, although they had stuck to their position on Kashmir.
Officials said the state government was disappointed that compared with 2010, far fewer delegation members had tried to meet the separatists today.
Omar Abdullah said all-party delegations had lost credibility because of Kashmiris' bitter experience of such visits in the past.
"Such delegations have come to Kashmir before but unfortunately, when things cool down there is no follow-up," he said.
Mehbooba told the visitors there was a need to revive the reconciliation-and-resolution process "through an institutionalised mechanism involving all the stakeholders".
The 58-day-old unrest has left 73 dead and around 10,000 injured.
Body furore
The body of a "protester", allegedly killed by security forces, was fished out of the Jhelum last evening, prompting a huge protest in Srinagar and a clash with security forces.
Later, the dead man turned out to be a non-Muslim, implying he was not a pro- azadi protester. Police are trying to ascertain his identity.
Police sources said some people had spotted the body floating in the river and jumped in to pull it out.
"People started claiming there were pellet marks on it," an officer said. "We later found it uncircumcised."
Earlier, shrieking women beat their chests and men chanted anti-India slogans, clashing with the forces after being prevented from marching to the city's biggest "martyr's graveyard" to bury the dead man.
