Kashmir is ours, Kashmiris are ours, Kashmiriyat is also ours: Rajnath

ADDRESSING A PUBLIC RECEPTION IN SIKKIM, SINGH ACCUSED PAKISTAN OF TRYING TO ‘DESTABILISE’ INDIA BY FOMENTING TROUBLE IN KASHMIR

“Kashmir is ours, Kashmiris are ours and Kashmiriyat is also ours,” home minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday, asserting that the Modi government will find a “permanent solution” to the Kashmir problem. The home minister’s assertion came amid continued unrest in the Kashmir valley. Addressing a public reception here in this tiny northeastern state, Singh accused Pakistan of trying to “destabilise” India by fomenting trouble in Kashmir.

“But I want to tell all of you that our government will find a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue,” he said. Kashmir is in a vice-like grip of violence since the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces in July last year.

Though there was a brief lull, violence erupted again on April 9 this year when the bypoll to Srinagar Lok Sabha seat was held. Normalcy has eluded the state since. Eight people were killed in firing by security forces on the polling day and a paltry 7.14 per cent of the electors came out to vote, the lowest ever in the valley since the rise of militancy in 1989. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah said on Sunday the problem in Jammu and Kahmir was not widespread but centered around just “three and a half districts”. Addressing an Aaj Tak Editors round-table on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s completion of three years in office, Shah said the BJP government was making efforts to bring peace to the Valley, which has been on the boil for the many weeks.

“The problem in Kashmir is a problem of three and a half districts,” Shah said, apparently referring to two south Kashmir districts and Srinagar.