Politics

Mehbooba meets Rajnath, appeals for India Pakistan dialogue

Srinagar: PDP President and former Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday met Home Minister of India Rajnath Singh in Srinagar where the later was on a day long visit.

A spokesperson of PDP in a statement said that Mehbooba appealed Centre for the resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan to end the present phase of acrimony and confrontation between the two south Asian neighbours.

“In her meeting with Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, Mufti said good relations with Pakistan have a positive impact on the ground situation in the State and it also encourages reconciliation among stakeholders within the State which automatically results into decline in alienation levels of people,” the statement said.

Rajnath Singh on Tuesday also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh be given to the kin of those killed in an explosion near encounter site in Kulgam on October 21. Singh who was on a daylong visit to Kashmir, made the announcement during a press conference in Srinagar.

Seven civilians were killed after an unexploded shell burst at the site after the gunfight ended on Sunday. Three militants were killed in the gunfight.

Meanwhile, the Joint Resistance Leadership had called for Lal Chowk March on Tuesday against the killings. However, strict restrictions were put in place in the commercial hub to foil the march.

Yasin Malik, the Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, was detained by the cops from Lal Chowk after he tried to lead a protest.

Malik, who had evaded arrest from his Maisuma residence was detained by cops outside the Masjid-e-Ameer Hamza in the adjoining locality of Koker Bazaar.

Moreover, Jammu and Kashmir Police detained Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq after he defied his house arrest and tried to march towards Lal Chowk. A spokesperson of the amalgam said a large posse of police personnel deployed outside the Nigeen residence of Mirwaiz detained him after he defied his house arrest and tried to march towards Lal Chowk.

On Monday, the police issued an advisory, asking commuters to use an alternate route as no traffic would be allowed between Amira Kadal and Regal Chowk.

Meanwhile, high speed internet has been suspended by the authorities and reduced to 2G as a precautionary measure.

complete shutdown is being observed in Kashmir in the aftermath of the civilian killings. A powerful explosion after a gunfight in Laroo village of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district in which three militants were killed led to the death of the civilians.

The news about the Kulgam killings spread like wild fire on Sunday and public movement in Srinagar city and major towns of Kashmir valley virtually came to a grinding halt as passenger transport vehicles were rarely moving on very few roads in the Srinagar city.

In a statement on Sunday evening, the Joint Resistance Leadership said that Kashmir has been turned into “a slaughterhouse where no one—young, old, children or women—is safe.”

Calling the Kulgam killings as ‘terrible news’, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday asked “how long can the ground realities be ignored and living in denial of bad situation in Kashmir.”

“Terrible news coming out from Kulgam.May the deceased find place in Jannat. Alienating the people in the fight against militancy is a sure fire recipe for losing the fight. How long can we go on ignoring the ground realities & living in denial about how bad things are in Kashmir?” Omar wrote on Twitter.

PDP President and former Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti also expressed shock over the death of seven civilians and injuries to scores others in Kulgam.

Kashmir Economic Alliance chairperson (KEA) Muhammad Yaseen Khan on Sunday strongly condemned the innocent killings in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district which has left seven civilians dead and dozens seriously injured.

Blaming government forces for carrying a ‘planned massacre’ in state, KTMF president termed it sheer cowardice and an inhuman act.

A Sikh Body, Gurmat Taksal while calling Kashmir a dispute, said in a statement that they condemn killing of innocent civilians in Kulgam and called for the bloodshed in Kashmir to end once for all.

 

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