Forced by the Opposition to break his silence on the unrest in Kashmir, Narendra Modi Friday convened an all party meeting to discuss ways to handle the crisis, which has left over 50 people dead and several thousand injured.
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Addressing the all-party meeting, Modi said the Government was ready to address “grievances” of all sections of people in Jammu & Kashmir as per the Constitution but made it clear that there can not be any compromise with the nation’s integrity. He also stressed that “Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) is ours” as much as Jammu, Kashmir Valley and Ladakh.
The Government’s efforts include reaching out to the civil society and speed up measures to integrate Kashmir’s youth with the State’s economic activities. “The dialogue with all mainstream political parties, trade associations and others is already on”, Jaitley said.
Some opposition parties demanded that an All Party delegation be sent to Kashmir.
Government on Friday said that they are ready to resolve the Kashmir issue in a peaceful manner as per the Constitution but made it clear that there can not be any compromise with the nation’s integrity.
Invoking former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee again, Modi said his government would follow the path shown by him, a reference to the framework of “insaniyat (humanity), jamhuriyat (democracy) and Kashmiriyat”. “The government expects constructive cooperation from all parties despite political differences”.
He said while there can be no compromise on national security, “we have to win the confidence of the people of the Jammu and Kashmir”.
“We have to see the security implication as well as an alternative option”. Centre has provided Rs 80,000 crore package for the state’s development and Sigh further mentioned that the amount has been forwarded to the state government and the remaining amount will be cleared by the Finance Ministry soon, mentioned Financial Express report. “Pakistan is prepared to consider translating its unilateral moratorium into a bilateral arrangement on non-testing with India”, the Prime Minister’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said. The pellet guns have been used in 2010 also. “It is now the Government of India’s duty to look into this matter and come up with a roadmap for defusing the present situation that alone will convince the people of J&K that we have a caring Government at Delhi”, he said.
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With 54 protesters killed since early July, one of the two factions of the main separatist alliance, the Hurriyat Conference, said there was no sign of anger abating.
