Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday criticised Pakistan for its recent remarks over the ongoing violence in the Kashmir Valley and said the neighbouring nation does not need to think about the Muslim people staying in this country.
Advertisement
Azad, a former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, also blamed the current BJP-PDP government of mishandling the situation and using “excessive force” which led to the killings of dozens and injuries of thousands of people. “The Kashmiris don’t trust the government of India, the Centre can’t rule Kashmir at gunpoint”, Azad told the Rajya Sabha. “Should the militants and common man be treated alike?” he added.
“The prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir has many aspects – the internal situation, the role of the state and central government, and external forces”, the Congress leader said. “Should the same bullets that are used on militants be used on innocent people of the state”, asked Azad. The opposition pressed for holding an all-party meeting to discuss the issue and pitched for a political solution rather than using “barrel of the gun” while dealing with the unrest. Should locals be treated the same way we treat militants? Earlier, participating in the discussion the opposition parties slammed the government over its handling of the situation. After realising that they could not win a war against us, they resorted to using terrorism as a means to their end, ‘ Jaitley said. “The people have been killed in all 10 districts of Jammu and Kashmir.maximum damage was done in four districts of South Kashmir”.
Meanwhile, curfew continued in all the ten districts of the Valley to curb the clashes in the aftermath of Wani’s killing.
He said the government earlier, while dealing with militants with a heavy hand, also had the policy of “healing touch”. Assuring him that the Congress was with the Government in wanting normalcy to return to Kashmir, Mr Azad said that the situation should not be further aggravated and blamed certain television channels and exiled entities, including Taslima Nasreen and Tareq Fateh, for fanning the communal flames.
Advertisement
At the same time, he said the Kashmir problem can not be solved by force, power or use of the army as it needed a political solution.
