Mehbooba invokes Vajpayee formula to achieve peace

JAMMU/NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Sunday former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s policy should be adopted to steer her state out of bloodshed and turmoil.

“We need to pick the threads left by Vajpayee. We need to find a permanent solution to the trouble as it keeps surfacing every twothree years,” she said in Jammu.

“Vajpayee went to Lahore; then Kargil happened. Then there was an attack on Parliament. But despite those provocations, Vajpayee never left the path of dialogue.”

Mufti followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s line that the youth in Kashmir are being misguided by vested interests.

Earlier in the day, Mufti said “whosoever is ready to reject violence” should be engaged in peace talks to restore normality in Kashmir.

The chief minister exhorted the “bunch of people” — referring to those provoking the youth to attack security forces — to stop violence and create a conducive atmosphere for talks.

“What I am concerned about and told the Prime Minister is that people have lost faith in dialogues. So, a dialogue as an institution has to be restored first,” she said.

She wants credible people to represent the government in the talks. They should be able to communicate with “the other side” — protesters and separatists.