NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi must act quickly to douse the fires of unrest in Kashmir, where over 50 civilians have died and many have been seriously injured when security forces opened fire on protesters last month, the Indian leader\u2019s political foes and allies said on Tuesday.
\nJammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, an ally of Mr Modi\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party, met Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday.
\n\u201cI am hopeful that PM Modi will take this as an opportunity to initiate dialogue with people in J&K to address their problems. There is a need to take the same initiative of winning hearts of J&K people, which was taken during Vajpayee ji\u2019s tenure,\u201d she was quoted by The Indian Express as saying.
\nShe also said that the process of dialogue with the people of Kashmir could improve the situation in the Valley. \u201cI believe there is a need to heal wounds of people, to initiate dialogue with the people of J&K. These are our own people. If process of dialogue with J&K people can improve situation in Valley, we should do it.\u201d
\nMs Mufti said that Jammu and Kashmir could become a bridge between India and Pakistan, if a proper dialogue process is initiated.
\nLeader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Congress party\u2019s Ghulam Nabi Azad said that independent India had never seen the imposition of a curfew for such a long period in any area. He wanted the prime minister to make a statement on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the entire country was eager to know what his government wa doing.
\n\u201cWe want to awaken this government…we feel that the government and the prime minister are like silent spectators as the situation keeps deteriorating,\u201d Mr Azad told the house.
\nThe Congress party on Tuesday gave a notice in Rajya Sabha over the ongoing situation in held Kashmir. The notice comes a couple of days after Mr Azad wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Modi urging him to \u2018break his silence\u2019 over the issue.
\nOn Tuesday, Mr Azad had justified his letter and said that it was hard to believe there was a government at the centre because of the \u2018indifference\u2019 they have shown towards the Kashmir issue.
\n\u201cWe had raised the Kashmir issue in the Rajya Sabha, and thereafter, there was a whole-day discussion in the Lok Sabha as well, but the prime minister did not speak even a word in either houses and neither expressed his solidarity with the people of Kashmir. It has created widespread disappointment across the nation, and especially in Jammu and Kashmir,\u201d Mr Azad told ANI.
\nKashmir has witnessed curfews and pitched battles between civilians and Indian forces since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with Indian forces last month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi must act quickly to douse the fires of unrest in Kashmir, where over 50 civilians have died and many have been seriously injured when security forces opened fire on protesters last month, the Indian leader\u2019s political foes and allies said on Tuesday. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":969,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n