Declare areas hit by shelling as 'war-impacted' zones: Mehbooba

Srinagar: PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday appealed to the government to declare areas affected by shelling from across the border in Jammu and Kashmir as "war-impacted zones" and give the status of martyr to those who lost lives in the skirmishes.

Addressing a press conference here, the former chief minister said she visited several areas near the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border to get a first-hand account of the impact on the lives of the people in the wake of shelling from across.

"I request that all these areas be declared as war-impacted zones, so that the work on their rehabilitation is taken up on war footing," the PDP president said.

She also demanded that the families whose houses were destroyed in the shelling be provided Rs 50 lakh each to support them in rebuilding their homes.

"I also demand that the Government of India give the status of martyrs to all the people who lost their lives in this. This will give them respect as they were innocent, and their families will also get some benefits. Jobs should also be provided to the next of kin of the deceased," she added.

Mehbooba noted that the shelling has left a trail of destruction in several areas like Poonch, Uri, Tangdhar and some parts of Kupwara.

It has devastated families, destroyed houses, and other properties. Some people still haven't got even tents to live in, and are living under open sky, she said.

The PDP president claimed banks were refusing to provide insurance to those whose shops have been damaged.

"The government should intervene in this. Also, those who have taken housing loans and their houses have been destroyed, their loans should be waived off," she said.

There are some areas like the area near the Brigade headquarter in Tangdhar where some nearby shops have suffered damage, but no one form the government has reached upto them, she added.

On the demands of building individual bunkers for people living in the affected areas, she said it does not feel right to demand such things in the 21st century in the first place when people should be demanding better schools and universities.

The Centre should think if it wants to keep the people thinking about war all the time, she said.

War is not a solution and those advocating war, should come and live with their families in the border areas, she said.

"That will give them a realisation of what war actually is. War is a solution to nothing. We have casualties on both the sides. That is the interest we have to pay for the war," she said.

She said war is not even a last resort and the Centre should take a page from former Prime Minister A B Vajpayee's doctrine. "They will find a solution there".

She said while she cannot say about what has been achieved after Operation Sindoor, the people living near the LoC or the IB have suffered.

"I don't know what else has been achieved, but those militants or whom you call terrorists are still at large. They have not nabbed till now," she said, claiming, "External Affairs Minister has said that he had warned Pakistan before and so, when you warned them, it may have given the terrorists an opportunity to escape. For me, it (the achievement) is zero".

In response to a question about BJP saying that the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was taking a "pro-Pakistan line", she said those questioning the BJP were dubbed as anti-nationals.

"India is a great country, India is a nation. BJP is not the nation so, I do not think that questioning the BJP is anti-national or pro-Pakistani," she said.