In a bid to build bridges between Raj Bhawan and the Hurriyat Conference, Governor Satya Pal Malik on Tuesday reached out to the separatist leaders, urging them to apprise him directly of the cases of “atrocity and injustice” to 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 the Hurriyat that they should not consider me an alien,” the Governor said in an interview.

“As far as the Hurriyat is concerned, I have respect for them. Even though their ideology is different from mine,” he said.

Promising to treat the Hurriyat leaders’ complaints with urgency, the Governor said: “If they (Hurriyat) feel there is any atrocity (by troops or police), they can contact me on the phone or send a person to me. I will treat them (and their complaints) the way I am treating the rest of the people.” He said he had opened up Raj Bhawan for all.

In his first-ever statement aimed at building bridges between the Hurriyat leaders and 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 mobile phones 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 the public during the interview.

Malik said he often sent officials from Raj Bhawan to collect the complaints of aggrieved people, even if they may not be so pressing or urgent.

Malik emphasised that in his dealings, his opinion was based not only on official briefings but also on narratives of people.

“I have met all political leaders and keep meeting them regularly,” he said, adding he has also met several delegations of 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 had received and resolved thousands of complaints and grievances and had given directions to his Advisers to address them as soon as possible.

The grievance cell of the state administration has resolved over 40,000 complaints so far.

Since the imposition of the Governor’s rule in the state on June 20 last year, the grievance cell has received 41,716 complaints, of which 40,457 have been dealt with, officials said.

The complaints have been forwarded to the quarters concerned for timely resolution, they said, adding that 877 complaints were “under process”.

The three Advisers to the Governor have been regularly meeting and hearing the grievances both in Srinagar and Jammu, they said. — PTI

Courtesy:The Tribune,Jan16,2019