Maintaining that a screening committee for release of separatists already exists, the Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday said it is ready to include a Centre's nominee, as it was necessary that both "trust" each other and work "unitedly" to end militancy in the state.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs and Finance Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig said that the state government understood the nation's concerns and "no person, who is not entitled to be released as per a Supreme Court ruling, will be freed".
He asserted that if the government finds any of the released persons indulging in violence or disturbing peace, they would be detained again.
"Nobody will be released by any ad hoc or wholesale method but each case will be studied properly," Baig said.
He said that the government was following a SC ruling clarifying that the detention of a person beyond the required period was illegal.
He said each case was to be decided by the screening committee, including top officials of the police and intelligence agencies, which already exists.
"We are ready to include any person that may be nominated by the Centre into the committee to improve the decision-making process," he said.
The "differing voices" that are raised over such developments could be avoided by this move, he said.
Emphasising that the state government's measures were aimed at ending militancy and "not to encourage it", Baig said the Sayeed government's move had been "misunderstood".
"The Centre and the state need to trust each other, understand each other's compulsions and work in a coordinated manner to end militancy," the senior state minister said. "This is a national issue and partisan politics has no place in dealing with it," he said.
He added that if the Vajpayee government helps the state, it would not be doing so in the capacity of a party but the national government.
He said a "common approach" at the national level was needed to fight militancy effectively and there can be no success till there is trust.
"A multi-pronged approach, involving security strategy, development and diplomatic measures, is required to end militancy," Beig said, adding for results "we have to be patient".
Playing down the recent sparring over the release of some militants by the state government, Baig said, "In a federal system, ups and downs are bound to be there like in a family. But that should not dilute our resolve to bring peace to the state." He lauded the central government, saying it had shown genuineness in assisting the new state government in developmental field.
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