J&K crisis: Mehbooba hints at dialogue with separatists

Asserting that violence and guns would not solve any issues, Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said a solution can only be found through democratic and political means involving dialogue.

“Time has come for the leadership of the country and the state to fully liberate the people of Jammu & Kashmir, with honour and dignity, from the political uncertainties they have been engulfed in for the past seven decades,” the state’s first woman chief minister said in her maiden Independence Day address, here.

In a strong speech, Mehbooba urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to complete the process initiated by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to address the issues. “The assertion of Narendra Modi that he will pursue the agenda of Insaaniyat, Jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat in Jammu & Kashmir as outlined by Vajpayee, will set the momentum for a fresh initiative in Kashmir,” Mehbooba said.

“We hope that the efforts put in during Vajpayee’s regime will be taken to logical conclusion now under Narendra Modi to make peace and stability a reality in the state and the region,” she hoped.

In the wake of the ongoing encounter between militants and security personnel in Srinagar, the chief minister said that guns were not the solution.

“The notion that creating disturbance and fuelling violence will lead to resolution is completely erring as Kashmir underwent a perilous phase of violence in the early nineties, leaving behind a scary trail of death and destruction. Have we achieved anything out of that bloodshed and devastation?” she asked.

Hinting that the government may initiate a dialogue with separatists, who have been leading the agitations in Kashmir for more than five weeks, she said: “As a confidence-building measure, we will have to reach out to the people of the state irrespective of their political affiliations.”

Calling for a political will and broader national consensus to address the issues confronting Jammu and Kashmir, the chief minister said elements of sanity, common sense and pragmatism should be picked up to strike a new benchmark in the state in light of the global and sub-continental realities.

“Substantive measures will be taken on political, economic and developmental fronts to address the aspirations and concerns of the people,” she said.