JOIN US Leaders of Opposition parties from Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday urged President Pranab Mukherjee to impress upon the Centre to find a solution to the Kashmir unrest “politically”.
“The failure of the Central government to acknowledge that the issue in Kashmir is largely of a political nature has worsened the already volatile situation,” said Omar Abdullah, who led the delegation of 20 Opposition leaders.
The former chief minister said they also requested the President to use his “influence” on the state as well as the Centre “to stop the use of lethal force against civilians in the Valley”.
The National Conference leader added, “The situation cannot be handled administratively or by creating a humanitarian crisis. We are having curfew for the last 43 days. Now, the sale of petrol has been stopped, which means it will also affect the movement of ambulances. With stringent curfew measures being enforced, more and more people are being driven out onto the streets and the problem is getting worse.”
Those who accompanied Abdullah included CPM MLA M Y Tarigami, Congress MLAs led by PCC chief G A Mir and independent MLA Hakeem Yaseen. They said they had also sought time from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the situation and would be meeting Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury.
The decision to call on the President was taken at a meeting attended by the members of the National Conference, the Congress, Communist Party, Democratic Party Front, Awami Ittehad Party and the People’s Democratic Front in Srinagar on Wednesday.