J&K people paying price for Indo-Pak animosity, says Mehbooba

Appeals PM, Pakistan to take steps for immediate ceasefire

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said that the people of the state were paying price for the animosity between India and Pakistan.

Her comments come a day after the killing of five members of a family- three minors and their parents- in a Pakistani firing along the LoC in Poonch district on Sunday.

Mehbooba was speaking to reporters in Balakote, Bimber Gali in Poonch, where she had gone to console the family.

Appealing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan to take steps for immediate ceasefire, she said, "People of Jammu and Kashmir are paying the price of enmity and partition between our country and Pakistan. Our people are being killed on both the sides of border."

"Steps should be taken to establish peace like (former prime minister) Vajpayee ji did in 2003 and went to Pakistan when ceasefire violations were a norm. Prime Minister Modi also went to Pakistan (in 2015) but Pathankot (terror attack) unfortunately happened after it (his visit). We need to get on the right track if we want to save the people of J&K," the chief minister said.

She handed over cheques of Rs. 25 lakh as ex-gratia to the next of kin of the deceased. The chief minister also announced construction of 15 community bunkers in Balakote area, besides stationing of one bunker vehicle for the people's help.

Ceasefire violations are at an all-time high this year, with over two dozen people, including security personnel, killed and nearly 90 others injured so far.

In February, four Army personnel, including a 22-year-old Captain, were killed in Pakistani shelling along the LoC in Poonch and Rajouri districts.

The Indian and Pakistani armies had agreed on a ceasefire along the LoC, the International Border (IB) and along the Actual Ground Position Line at Siachen glacier in November 2003.

Although it held good for 10-years, in the last few years, Pakistani troops have violated the ceasefire agreement hundreds of times.

India shares a 3,323-km-long border with Pakistan of which 221 km of the IB and 740 km of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir.