No talk until stone-pelting ends, says Amit Shah

New Delhi: Ruling out dialogue on the Kashmir issue until stone-pelting ends, BJP president Amit Shah said the Modi government will talk to everyone once violence ends.

Kashmir has been witnessing clashes between security forces and stone-pelting mobs in the past few months.

Playing down the ongoing situation in the Valley, Mr Shah said the region has seen such “hot situation” in stretches of six, eight or 12 months earlier as well, before security forces controlled it.

“We have said that we will start dialogue once stone-pelting stops. As long as there is stone pelting, there cannot be a dialogue. We can’t give them flower if they pelt stones. They will have to understand it,” Mr Shah told a news agency.  When asked if the government will speak to the Hurriyat (separatists) too, as was done by the previous NDA government, Mr Shah said, “Once violence ends and an atmosphere of dialogue is created, we will talk to every one.” Mr Shah said one can’t assess the situation in Kashmir by “picking one stretch of six months” and one has to see the entire period from 1989 to May 2017.

The BJP chief also expressed satisfaction in the way the PDP-BJP government is functioning.

He said the state government has done very good work on developing infrastructure and succeeded in bringing development to far-flung areas, which have been connected in a strategic way.

Mr Shah said for the first time, Jammu and Ladakh, two other regions in the state besides Kashmir, believe that they have got  “justice”.