J&K regional parties on Monday targeted Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s administration and the Centre’s policies in Kashmir, for the spurt in violence in the Union Territory (UT).
“Despite being under the BJP rule and its bogus claims of ending militancy, violence continues unabated. If J&K had its own elected government, the same media would have hauled them over the coals,” former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti said.
Terming the Dangri attack in Rajouri, which left six civilians dead, as “a heart-wrenching” incident, Ms. Mufti said, “A group gets benefited from Hindu and Muslim narratives in such cases; they get an opportunity to spread hatred in the country. India including Kashmir is a secular place but it is a different thing that it is being made Godse’s nation now.”
PDP general secretary Mehboob Beg said a meaningful engagement between India and Pakistan had become inevitable for sustainable peace in J&K.
“The positive strides of the composite Indo-Pak dialogue process during the times of Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee asserted the need for the resumption of the peace process and engagement with Pakistan. Dialogue with Pakistan is important for peace. The BJP-led Modi Government at the Centre must go the Vajpayee way to bring permanent peace to the Valley,” Mr. Beg said.
Former Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah also criticised the Lieutenant Governor’s administration’s response to the Rajouri attack, where an explosion took place after 14 hours of the first attack and left two minors dead.
“This apparent carelessness on the part of the security forces needs to be probed and accountability fixed. Costly lessons learnt in the past taught us not to hand over the sites of encounters and attacks without thoroughly sanitising them. Why wasn’t this SOP followed in Rajouri?” Mr. Abdullah asked.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, former J&K Chief Minister and chairman of the Democratic Azad Party, said he strongly condemned the heinous acts of terrorism against civilians, particularly against the minority community.
“Such acts of selective killings of a particular community even in the past had been used by terrorists as a tool to create disharmony in our society. The government has to address the overall security situation promptly with great seriousness, keeping in view the resurfacing of militant activities and trace out the militants responsible as early as possible,” Mr. Azad said.
“The BJP-led Modi Government at the Centre must go the Vajpayee way to bring permanent peace to the Valley”Mehboob BegPDP general secretary
