Pained by deaths, PM Modi offers talks

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed “deep concern and pain” over the ongoing unrest in Kashmir when he met Opposition leaders from the state, and emphasised the need for dialogue to find a lasting solution within the framework of the Constitution.

The Prime Minister also said that “those who lost their lives during recent disturbances are part of us, our nation; whether the lives lost are of our youth, security personnel or police, it distresses us.”

During the 75-minute long meeting with the 20-member delegation of Opposition parties from J&K led by former chief minister Omar Abdullah, Mr Modi asked all political parties to work together to find a “permanent and lasting” solution to the situation prevailing in the crisis-hit state, reiterating that the “government and the nation stand with the state of Jammu and Kashmir.”

Ironically, this came on a day when the Border Security Force, which was taken off counter-insurgency operations in J&K in 2004, was deployed in the summer capital after a gap of 11 years. BSF personnel were deployed in the commercial hub of Lal Chowk and adjoining areas for law and order duties, a police official said. Clashes between protesters and security forces for over five weeks have left some 68 people dead.

The delegation, comprising seven National Conference MLAs, Congress legislators led by PCC chief G.A. Mir and CPI-M MLA M.Y. Tarigami, had called on the Prime Minister on Monday morning to an appeal for a political approach for resolving the crisis in the Valley and to ensure that the “mistakes” of the past are not repeated.

Making an appeal for restoration of normalcy in the Valley where unrest entered 45th day, Mr Modi emphasised that there has to be dialogue. Official sources said that after his meeting with the delegation, the Prime Minister appreciated the “constructive suggestions” made by them during and reiterated his government’s commitment to the welfare of the people.

Immediately after the PM’s statement was released, Mr Abdullah tweeted, “We welcome the statement of the Hon PM @narendramodi ji and look forward to working together to find a lasting solution to problems of J&K.”

Later Mr Abdullah told reporters that the Prime Minister had listened to “us with patience and accepted our memorandum”.

“We also implore you to announce an immediate ban on pellet guns and advise relevant quarters against the policy of mass harassment, raids and arrests as this has worsened an already volatile situation in the state and also goes against the values and principles of democracy,” the memorandum submitted to Mr Modi said.

Mr Abdullah said that the PM had agreed with the delegation that development alone is not an answer to the crisis. Kashmir has been witnessing unrest since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8.

“The Prime Minister told us in categorical terms that development alone will not resolve this problem,” he said and refused to draw any conclusion from that. “I am not going to put words into the Prime Minister’s mouth nor am I going to draw further meaning from what he said,” Mr Abdullah said.

The former chief minister of J&K added, “We emphasised that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is more of political in nature. Time and again such situations do arise but if we are unable to find a political solution to it, we will be repeating our mistakes again and again”.

Asked about the statement made by finance minister Arun Jaitley in Jammu on Sunday, that stone-pelters were no “satyagrahis but aggressors”, Mr Abdullah said, “I do not wish to say anything on this as the Prime Minister told us nothing like this. And more importantly, let’s not play politics over Jammu and Kashmir. We will get ample time to play political games later.”

The delegation of Opposition leaders from J&K started their political initiative on August 20 when it met President Pranab Mukherjee and submitted a memorandum, requesting him to use his office to influence the Centre for initiating a political dialogue with all stakeholders in the state. It also met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and apprised him about the situation in the state.