Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday lashed out at Pakistan for instigating youths in Kashmir to take up arms, saying it has to change its policy, and asked the Centre to revoke the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act on trial basis from selected areas as a beginning towards “winning the hearts” of people.
“Today when a Kashmiri child takes up gun, they [Pakistan] call him leader and say he is doing good, but when their own children, some from madrasas take up the gun, they attack them with drones and hang them in military courts.
“If they instigate our children to pick up gun and then say you will become our leader if you get killed in encounter, then I think they need to change this policy,” Ms. Mehbooba told reporters here.
The Chief Minister was speaking after she met Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who reviewed the situation in the Valley.
“As far as the AFSPA is concerned, we were not saying that it should be revoked in one go. But on an experimental basis, if it is revoked slowly, beginning with 25 to 50 police stations, it can be seen how the situation remains,” she said, adding, “If the situation remained well, then it should be revoked entirely.” —PTI
