CM Mufti requests the PM to address the ‘growing alienation’ among Kashmiri youth; apprises defence minister of security scenario in the Valley.
New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help pull the troubled state out of its present crisis.
Mufti met Modi late on Monday amid rising violence in the troubled state and requested the PM to address what is seen as the growing alienation among Kashmiri youth. She also asked for a more “humane” approach in dealing with the situation.
Later, she met defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and discussed the security situation in the state.
Monday’s meeting assumes significance given that Modi is likely to address the youths at a Kashmir university event next month. Governor N.N. Vohra, the chancellor of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, has invited Modi for the annual convocation.
Thirteen militants, three army personnel and four civilians were killed in three separate incidents in south Kashmir on 1 April. Recently, the state government offered amnesty to first-time stone pelters, withdrawing cases against them.
Mufti has also asked for measures to take the youth into “confidence” to prevent them from resorting to stone-pelting again. Her appeal comes in the wake of massive protests by college and university students against the recent killings in Shopian.
In a 30-minute one-on-one meeting with Modi, Mufti said that the people of the state, having suffered immensely during the turmoil of the past three decades, were looking up to the country’s political leadership to support them in getting out of the cycle of uncertainty and deaths.
“She has asked for implementation of the ‘Agenda of Alliance’, which included opening the historic routes across the LoC for movement of the people to build public confidence in the peaceful engagements,” a source privy to Monday’s meeting told ThePrint.
Days before the three encounters leading to elimination of 13 militants, senior Hurriyat leaders, including the octogenarian Syed Ali Shah Geelani, was released from detention, seen as an indication of the government’s “soft” approach to try and get them interested in talks.
However, things changed immediately after the encounters with the police having to detain all of them (including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik) again. The Joint Resistance Leadership, an amalgamation of various separatist groups, has stood firm in not talking to the Centre’s interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma.
Mufti has also tried to convince New Delhi to reach out and take the Hurriyat into confidence.
Mufti reiterated the need for opening the channels of dialogue between India and Pakistan. She sought engagement between the top political and military leadership of the two countries. She favoured the idea of the two army commands (India and Pakistan) keeping in touch with each other to minimise tensions on the border in the state.
“Peace is the only way forward. Initiatives were started by Vajpayee Ji with his Lahore bus journey & were later carried on in the same spirit by PM @narendramodi. Sadly they were sabotaged at Pathankot. We need to get on the right track if we want to save the people of J&K,” the CM had tweeted.
As an equal partner, she can stand by the Agenda of Alliance on which the coalition rests. If it is found infeasible to implement it, she could review her options.