Mayawati asks Modi to review Kashmir policy

◗ BSP supremo asks the saffron party shun its “stubborn attitude and think of larger national interests”

Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give up his “stubborn attitude” and review his government’s Kashmir policy.

In a statement issued here on Friday, Ms Mayawati said that she was saddened by the killing of Kashmiri journalist Shuujat Bukhari, who was shot dead in Srinagar on Thursday, and the situation in the Valley.

“Time has come for the Narendra Modi government to shun its stubborn attitude and immediately review its Kashmir policy in the interest of the country. The BJP’s Kashmir policy seems to be guided by “narrow politics instead of larger national interests,” she said.

Ms Mayawati pointed out that things were out of control in Jammu and Kashmir in the BJP- PDP government.

She said that killings are continuing both along the border as well as in the state and security personnel are being martyred. She said that the Centre needs to change its policy and ensure improvement in the situation there.

The BSP president said that the people of Jammu and Kashmir should not be given the kind of treatment that is being given by the Pakistani government to the people in PoK.

Ms Mayawati also criticised the lynching of two Hindu youth in Assam and manhandling of two minors belonging to a backward community in Jalgaon in Maharashtra. She said that if the BJP government had taken stern action, such “casteist” incidents could have been checked.

Meanwhile, the BJP has reacted strongly to the BSP president’s statement.

UP BJP spokesman Rakesh Tripathi said that Ms Mayawati’s statement should be condemned because she is speaking in the same language as separatists.

He said in a statement that Ms Mayawati should apologise to the nation for her statement. He said that the Modi government’s efforts to restore normalcy in the Valley is yielding results.