March 30
Centre’s special representative for a dialogue on Kashmir Dineshwar Sharma visited militant hotbed Tral town in south Kashmir on Thursday. He met six delegations, including some sports enthusiasts and members of Sikh community.
Tral town observed partial shutdown after the news of Sharma’s arrival spread . Tral is the native town of Burhan Wani, who was killed in 2016 and Zakir Musa, an active militant commander. Most of the legislators and ministers refrain from going to Tral, which is considered to be the stronghold of Jaish-e-Muhammad.
Sharma came in an Army helicopter and met delegations at the town hall. Armed forces were deployed across the town and heavy contingent was guarding the town till he returned to Srinagar on Thursday afternoon. This is Sharma’s seventh visit to the state since his appointment in October last year.
“We urged him to convey to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Kashmir issue can only be resolved through dialogue, Otherwise appointment of interlocutors is seen as cheating by people here,” Dr Joginder Singh Shan, president Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee of Pulwama told ET. 