Guns can't get us justice: Mehbooba Mufti’s I-Day message to Pakistan

In a deeply embarrassing moment for Jammu and Kashmir CM, the national tricolor fell off the post as she hoisted it.

Srinagar: Urging the Pakistan government to come forward for talks, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said be it guns from India or across the border, it cannot get them justice.

\"You can come for discussion. If this can't give us any solution, then no gun can get us justice, be it our guns or guns of the militants. The fault is not with the people of Jammu and Kashmir nor is it with India...the problem has been with the leadership of the state over the years,\" Mehbooba said after unfurling the tri-colour on the occasion of 70th Independence Day.

She alleged that the entire national leadership from Jawaharlal Nehru's time till today is responsible for the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. \"Encounters have taken place in the past and will continue to take place. But I don't understand what is my government's fault. I promise that action will be taken against the police and security forces, who went against my directions,\" she added.

Remembering the efforts made my former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mehbooba said, \"We hope that the efforts put in during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's regime would be completed now under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.\"

Urging the people to denounce violence in the Valley, Mehbooba said, \"If we can't find our solution in the world's biggest democracy, we won't find it anywhere else.\"

Meanwhile, in a deeply embarrassing moment for Mehbooba, the national tricolor fell off the post as she hoisted it.

Mehbooba, who was hoisting the national flag as Chief Minister for the first time, pulled the string attached to the post only to see the tricolor fall from the post and land on the ground.

Amid the embarrassing situation, two personnel from the security detail of the Chief Minister held the flag in their hands till Mehbooba gave the ceremonial salute to the flag.

As Mehbooba left the stage for inspecting the contingents of the police and paramilitary forces, the security staff at the Bakshi Stadium hurriedly set the flag right and hoisted it atop the post.

The celebrations were being held just seven KMS away from Nowhatta, where six Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were injured and 1 killed in an attack by the terrorists earlier in the day.

Many parts of Srinagar, including the Nowhatta area, have been under curfew since the security forces shot dead Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani earlier on July 8.

More than 50 people have died and thousands have been injured in clashes between the protesters and security forces since then.