NC says no to Centre-State working group meeting

Srinagar, Dec 11 (UNI) The National Conference (NC), the main opposition in Jammu and Kashmir, today said it will not participate in the first meeting of a working group, constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to strengthen the relations between the Centre and the strife-torn state, in New Delhi tomorrow.

''We will not take part in the meeting. We have already decided not to participate in any such meeting till there was a significant improvement in the rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir. There is no going back on that decision,'' senior NC leader Abdul Rahim Rather told UNI here.

Mr Rather, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and had been invited for the meeting, said the Prime Minister had pledged of zero tolerance for human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

''We will review the decision only when commitments regarding human rights are fulfilled and there was a significant improvement in the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir,'' he added.

Addressing a news conference here on November one, NC president Omar Abdullah had said that his party had decided to suspend its participation in any future round table conferences or working groups till there was significant improvement in the human rights situation in the state.

''Nothing has been done so far to check human rights abuses. We did wait for a long time to allow the government to fulfill its promise. We discussed this at round table conferences and working group meetings as well...but in vain,'' he said.

Mr Abdullah had also written a detailed letter to the Prime Minister in this regard.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had described the NC's decision as an ''irresponsible act''.

The first meeting of the fifth working group on Jammu and Kashmir will be presided over by Justice (Retd) Sagheer Ahmed.

MORE UNI AG RL KN1921