Former J&K interlocutor Radha Kumar on Friday (August 7, 2026) presented a report, prepared by the Forum for Human Rights in J&K, to ruling National Conference (NC) president Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, and CPI(M) legislator M.Y. Tarigami.

“We presented our human rights report to Dr. Abdullah and MLAs of the NC. We are hoping that some action can be taken at whatever level possible, on the violations of human rights that are prevalent and ongoing,” said Ms. Kumar.

Ms. Kumar and Gopal Pillai, former Home Secretary, are co-chairs of the Forum on J&K, which is a group of concerned citizens including retired judges, bureaucrats and Army officers. Ms. Kumar was accompanied by Air Vice-Marshal Kapil Kak (retd) in her trip to Kashmir. The Forum was denied police permission to release the report at Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre, where NC’s Abdullah, PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti and Congress’ Tariq Hameed Karra had agreed to attend it.

Terming her meeting with Dr. Abdullah, Ms. Mufti and CPI(M)’s Tarigami as “very fruitful”, Ms. Kumar said, “We discussed the human rights report and its findings. We discussed the issue of federalism in our country and how the Statehood for J&K was perhaps the first big blow against federal rights of States. The need is to have all the parties come together and assert that the Constitution of India has to protect the rights of the States.”

Ms. Kumar was appointed as an interlocutor on J&K in 2010. “During the [Prime Minister Atal Behari] Vajpayee administration and the Manmohan administration there was an understanding that you needed several different tracks of peace, you needed a track of between the people, the elected representatives and the Government of India. You needed a track between the governments of India and Pakistan, and you needed a track with the dissidents, who are often called separatists.”

Published - August 08, 2026 07:38 am IST