Jammu, Jan 15: J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik Tuesday reached out to the Hurriyat leaders in Kashmir urging them to apprise him directly of the cases of “atrocity and injustice” to common people that they may come across.
Malik made the offer with an appeal that the Hurriyat Conference leaders should not treat him as “an alien”.
“I have a message for Hurriyat that they should not consider me as an alien,” Governor Malik told news agency PTI in an interview.
“As far as Hurriyat is concerned, I have respect for them, even though their ideology is different from mine. They have a different ideology and I have a different one,” the governor added.
Promising to treat Hurriyat leaders’ complaints with due urgency, the governor said, “If they (Hurriyat) feel there is any atrocity (by troops or police), they can contact me on phone or send a person to me.”
“I will treat them (and their complaints) the way I am treating the rest of the people,” said the governor, maintaining that he has opened up the Raj Bhawan for all.
In his first-ever statement aimed at building bridges between Hurriyat leaders and the Raj Bhawan, Malik also expressed hope that “at some level, there will be talks too” with them at some time.
Explaining that he has always been hearing out the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Malik said, “I take all calls including those from common people of the state. My mobiles and WhatsApp have never been silent. All those complaints which come to me on WhatsApp, I have tried to address them.”
The governor even attended a few calls from general public during the interview itself.
Malik said he even often sends officials from Raj Bhawan to collect the complaints of aggrieved individuals, even if they may not be so pressing or urgent.
Malik emphasised that in his dealings, his opinion is based not merely on official briefings but on narratives of the common people as well.
“I have met all political leaders and keep meeting them regularly,” he said, adding he has also met several delegations of common people and youth groups, “opening himself to them and hearing them out”.
“There is a need to establish contact with them and work according to their aspirations so that they understand that the Centre is not against them,” he added.
Malik said during his short tenure in the office, he has received and resolved thousands of complaints and grievances and has given directions to his advisors to address them as soon as possible.
The grievance cell of Jammu and Kashmir administration has resolved over 40,000 of the complaints registered so far by it.
Since the imposition of the Governor’s rule in the state on June 20, the grievance cell has received 41,716 complaints, of which 40,457 have been dealt with, officials said.
These complaints have been forwarded to the quarters concerned for timely resolution, they said, adding that 877 complaints were “under process”.
The three advisors to the governor have been regularly meeting and hearing the grievances both in Srinagar and Jammu, they said.
