MEHBOOBA URGES MODI TO START DIALOGUE, WIN HEARTS IN VALLEY
NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to “seize the opportunity created by unrest” in her state to initiate a dialogue and win the hearts of the masses.
She invoked former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and said: “There is a need to take the same initiative of winning the people’s heart, which was taken during Vajpayeeji’s tenure.”
The chief minister was in the national capital for a meeting with home minister Rajnath Singh as her state remained on the edge for the past one month after the killing of popular Hijbul Mujaheedin militant leader Burhan Wani.
Defence minister Manohar Parrikar, minister of state for prime minister’s office (PMO) Jitendra Singh, national security adviser Ajit Doval, home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, and several senior bureaucrats were present at the meeting.
This is Mehbooba’s first visit to the Capital since the Valley got engulfed in the past-Wani unrest, in which more than 50 people died and nearly 2,000 wounded in security crackdowns. Large parts of the Valley are under curfew for over a month now.
“Inputs were taken from the defence minister, NSA, intelligence agencies and other senior officials and a review of the situation in Kashmir was undertaken by Rajnath Singh. The home minister may make a statement in Parliament on Tuesday,” said an official.
After the meeting, Mehbooba said there is a need to heal people’s wounds by initiating a dialogue with them. “These are our own people. If a process of dialogue with J&K people can improve the situation in the Valley, we should do it,” she told reporters.
Mehobooba said her state could become a bridge between India and Pakistan.
“There is a need to apply balm to the wounds of Kashmiri people,” she added.
Kashmir was a talking point in Parliament too, with opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha urging Prime Minister Modi to break his silence on the situation.
Cutting across party lines, opposition leaders urged the Centre to stop the use of pellet guns on protesters and send an all-party delegation to the state.
Leader of the Opposition, Ghulam Nabi Azad, said no state in independent India has seen 30 days of continuous curfew.
“Hindustan ka taj jal raha hai, par uski garmi Delhi tak nahi pahuchti (India’s crown is burning, but the heat hasn’t reached Delhi),” the Congress leader from the state said.
Over 8,000 people, including security personnel, have been wounded, while 410 eye surgeries and 1,650 other surgeries were reportedly done because pellet guns fired at protesters, Azad said.
“Please do not consider this as a law and order issue. It is a political issue too,” he said and sought a statement from Modi.