Mehbooba Mufti presents peace plan to PM Modi

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday presented a “three-pronged action plan” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing lasting peace in the Valley rocked by turmoil that has left at least 69 people dead. Sources said the plan stresses on initiating dialogue with all the stakeholders in Kashmir, which includes “appointing an interlocutor” to hold talks with all the stakeholders, facilitating the visit of an all-party delegation to the Valley next week, and a possible change in governor.

“Please appoint a group of individuals on whom people of Kashmir have trust, that whatever they are saying will reach people at the helm of affairs in Delhi,” Ms Mufti told reporters after her hour-long meeting the Prime Minister at 7, Race Course Road, her first since unrest broke out in the Valley. Saturday was the 50th day of unrest that began after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani on July 8.

Ms Mufti said that Mr Modi was concerned about the “bloodshed” in Kashmir, and wanted an end to the cycle of violence in Kashmir. “The Prime Minister is very concerned about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir like we all are. It is a matter of concern for everyone. The Prime Minister wants this bloodshed to end so that the state comes out of the present turmoil,” she said.

Stressing the need for initiating credible and meaningful political action on the ground, Ms Mufti called for reviving the reconciliation and resolution process initiated by the then NDA government headed by Atal Behari Vajpayee between 2002 and 2005. The intra and inter-state confidence building measures initiated during Mr Vajpayee’s time had helped transform the situation in the state and the region, she said.

“We shall have to pick up the threads from where we left in 2005 and revive the reconciliation and resolution process with fresh resolve,” Ms Mufti said and added that Mr Modi has the mandate to take bold political initiatives on Kashmir as was done by Mr Vajpayee.

Ms Mufti said that the basis of the PDP-BJP alliance was Mr Vajpayee’s Kashmir policy, and recalled the words of her father and former chief minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. “Mufti sahab always said, ‘Modiji has two-thirds majority. If the situation doesn’t change during his tenure, then it will never change.’ I am sure that the Prime Minister will not forget to find a lasting solution to the Kashmir issue like the UPA did.”

Appealing to the protesters to help her resolve the crisis, she reached out to them saying, “Please give me one chance to address your concerns and aspirations.”

“Every political party wants the bloodshed in Kashmir to end and a political process to begin, sooner the better,” she said and added that all political parties, including Hurriyat leaders, shall have to come forward and help in saving innocent lives as also engage in meaningful dialogue process for the peaceful resolution of the problems.

On the all-party delegation, she said, “I hope they will meet different shades of political opinion to elicit their views on how to find a way out of the present imbroglio.”

The chief minister also targeted Pakistan, saying it should stop supporting people who are instigating youth in the Valley to carry out attacks on police stations and Army camps. She said that Islamabad, unfortunately, lost out on a “golden opportunity for reconciliation when Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Lahore December last and when home minister Rajnath Singh visited Islamabad recently for the SAARC ministerial meeting”.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday hoped that the situation in the troubled Kashmir Valley will soon return to normal as the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir government are moving forward in the right direction with “absolute” co-ordination.

“There is absolute co-ordination between the Centre and the state and therefore, we are moving in the right direction. I am sure very soon things will return to normal in the Valley,” he told reporters here.