A ceremonial parade was held at the snow-bound Bakshi Stadium in the city where Minister of State for Public Health and Engineering Ali Mohammad Sagar urged the "misguided" youths to solve their complaints against the State through negotiations. Taking the salute at Bakshi Stadium, Sagar urged the Kashmiri youths, caught in the militancy, to join the national mainstream.

He asked the "misguided" to negotiate for peace. "Our doors are always open," he said. "We want the issue to be solved through negotiations," he said citing the example of peace talks in Northern Ireland.

He said the ruling National Conference was trying hard to bring the Kashmiri Pandits back to the Valley. "We haven't given up," he said.

He said Jammu and Kashmir isa Muslim-majority State where people of all communities enjoyed their democratic rights. There had been attempts to mislead people in the name of religion, he said. The minister admitted there might be some human rights violations by the security forces, but added that the massacres committed by militants must also be kept in mind. Security forces had been instructed not to harass innocent people and action would be taken whenever there was a complaint against them, he assured.

Meanwhile, no major militant attack was reported from in the Valley till late Tuesday evening. Ironically, complaints about alleged harassment during security checks were entertained. At the posh Rajbagh locality in uptown Srinagar, 2 kms away from the Bakhshi Stadium, a group of residents staged a demonstration. They alleged that securitymen had pulled out people from a local mosque during a search operation. Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani joined in the protest.

As a run-up to the Republic Day, security forces intensifiedsearch operations in the city about a week back. In Batamaloo locality, a former militant bastion, many families had moved out to avoid harassment during the search operations. Random checks on bus passengers and pedestrians in sensitive localities too increased.

Contingents of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Central Reserve Police Force and the Fire Service participated in Tuesday's parade. Though the Hurriyat and other militant organisations wanted people to stay indoors as a protest, security forces also `discouraged' movement near the Bakshi Stadium till the ceremony was over.