Prime Minister Manmohan Singh convened a round-table meeting on Jammu & Kashmir. With the exception of the Hurriyat Conference (an umbrella group of separatist groups) most political parties and interest groups participated in the discussions. For the first time, the Government invited representatives of Kashmiri Pandits ("ethnically cleansed" out of their ancestral homes in Kashmir in 1989), Hindu groups from the Jammu, and Buddhist groups from Ladakh. The most significant outcome is the decision that Home Minister Shivraj Patil convenes a panel of senior officials to review the detainee list so that those without serious charges may be released soon. Referring to the recent shooting incident in which security forces shot down 4 youth, Singh reiterated the country's commitment to dealing with "terrorism and militancy" while ensuring that innocent people are not affected. The panel expressed hope that the Hurriyat will join the discussions in the scheduled May meeting at Srinagar. He highlighted the successes of the people-to-people contacts between India and Pakistan that formed an important component of the ongoing peace talks between the two countries. Jammu & Kashmir has three major groups-- Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. The Hindus are in majority in Jammu and Buddhists are in majority in Ladakh. In Kashmir Valley, the population can divided into Sunni groups that seek separation from India, Shia groups with strong ties to Sufism mostly engaged in farming and craft wanting stronger economic ties with India, and Gujjars & Bakerwals who want strong security ties with India. Because of the way the constituencies in the state are drawn and the Assembly set up, the Kashmiri Sunnis with a marginal majority in the Valley corner all the political space there. As an extension of this problem, the Valley with a marginally higher population than Jammu and with a much smaller land area than Ladakh gets a disproportionately higher number of seats.

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