PoK is part of India, PM at all-party meet

Blames Pakistan for unrest in Valley

Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened a new front with Islamabad as he said Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) should be treated as one of the four regions of Jammu & Kashmir.

Sending a strong message to the Nawaz Sharif government, which the Centre accused of stoking unrest in the Valley, Modi said Pakistan’s atrocities in PoK and Balochistan should be unmasked and wondered how a country, which bombs its own people, can talk about human rights.

Speaking at an all-party meeting on Kashmir, the prime minister was firm that the neighbouring country be made accountable to the international community on human rights violations in PoK and Balochistan.

He assured leaders during the four-hour meeting that the political process in Jammu & Kashmir will be encouraged democratically to restore normalcy, and said that he was equally “pained” like other countrymen to see the turbulence in the state. At the same time, he insisted that no compromise would be accepted on the country’s security.

Elaborating on the NDA government’s marked shift on the Kashmir policy, Modi told the gathering that the “external affairs ministry should try to reach out to the expats from PoK living abroad, acquire information about the sad state of affairs and share them with the world”. 

Though the Opposition rallied behind the government to tackle the problem in the Valley, the Left leaders said the Centre did not accept their demands for holding dialogue with stakeholders and stopping the use of pellet guns.

“The government neither accepted nor rejected our demands," CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury told reporters.

Briefing the media after the meeting, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that an all-party delegation can only visit Kashmir after he speaks to the chief minister and preparations are made by the state. He, however, said that the issue of  political leaders going there was not raised in the meeting.

Reacting to the Opposition’s demand, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said a decision on pellet guns can be taken only after a panel, set up to look into the issue, submits its report. The government has already resumed dialogue on the issue with locals during the home minister’s recent two-day visit to Srinagar, Jaitley said.

The government has come up with mass recruitment advertisements to absorb youth into the police and armed forces. Modi also said that despite attempts being made to give the impression that Kashmiris had joined the prolonged agitation, the percentage of youth hitting the streets was low.