Mehbooba Mufti meets PM Modi, seeks help to end violence, alienation in Kashmir

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s help towards finding ways to end bloodshed in the state and growing alienation among its youth.

Mehbooba Mufti during her meeting with the Prime Minister in New Delhi on Monday also sought frequent engagement at top political level between India and Pakistan to arrive on an amicable solution of Kashmir imbroglio.

She called for a similar rendezvous between the two countries’ military authorities to put an end to border skirmishes “which bring with them enormous amount of miseries” for the people living in close proximity of the divide line.

This comes days after the Chief Minister had made a passionate appeal to the country’s political leadership that it should while cutting across party lines listen to the “voices of pain” from Jammu and Kashmir and support the people of the state in getting out of “vicious cycle of violence and uncertainty”.

The Chief Minister during her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi apprised him about the overall obtaining situation in her state in the wake of recent turbulence triggered by the killing of 13 Hizb-ul-Mujahedin militants and five civilians in security forces stepped up counterinsurgency measures.

An official spokesperson in Jammu said that Mehbooba Mufti urged the Prime Minister “to find ways and means to end the cycle of violence in the state by addressing the element of alienation among youth”.

She reiterated that the people of the state who have suffered immensely during the turmoil of past three decades look up to the country’s political leadership to support them in getting out of this cycle of uncertainty and deaths.

Mehbooba Mufti also asked for peaceful engagement with all stakeholders in this regard and sought more frequent meetings at the highest levels between India and Pakistan besides favouring the idea that the top military leadership of the two countries should stay in touch with each other to minimise the level of tension across the borders as frequent skirmishes have resulted into huge suffering to tens of thousands of people living in villages in close proximity to the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) in J&K.

The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister also pleaded for taking the cross-LoC movement to next higher level by working on opening more historic routes across the de facto border and movement of more people to build public confidence in the peaceful engagements.

She also pleaded for working for opening Sharda Peth, ancient seat of learning of Kashmiri Pandits near Muzaffarabad and developing it like Nalanda and Takshila.

The Chief Minister had on Friday she that said it was high time for the entire country to support the people of J&K in getting out of the “vicious cycle of killings and uncertainty”.

Mehbooba Mufti said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the most powerful political executive of the country can lead this peace project by responding to the need of putting a stop to the bloodshed in the State which has been going on for almost three decades now.”

She had said that peace, reconciliation and dialogue form the core of ‘Agenda of the Alliance’ reached out between her Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and that it was the belief in Prime Minister Modi’s “leadership abilities and his political clout” that the people of the State are looking up to for the resumption of the same (dialogue).

The Chief Minister had further said, “Our state and the whole region expect the Prime Minister to revive the spirit of former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s, initiative and also expect the other shades of political opinion in the country to avoid falling into the trap of old partisan politics and instead support such an initiative.” This, she had hoped, would get the State out of the uncertainties and herald into an era of progress and development.

Referring to the Prime Minister’s assertion that the Kashmir problem “will not be solved by bullets or abuses but only with embracing the people) made during his Independence Day speech, the Chief Minister had hoped the same to be translated into reality by everyone in the country dealing with the affairs of the state. From media to administration, strategic community and the security forces, everyone will have to be part of this national effort”, she had said.

The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister added, “It is high time that enough hope is generated to persuade young men from going on a violent path by creating their stakes in peace and life rather than in death and rebellion.”

She had asserted that a successful peace process in J&K alone can fulfill the objectives of democracy and justice in the country. “India”, she said, “can truly don the moral leadership of the region by increasing the level of satisfaction of the people of the State by winning their trust and hearts and minds.”