New Delhi, Apr 24 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said the situation in Jammu and Kashmir would improve in the next two or three months, after which a dialogue could be initiated. Though the CM did not specify who the talks would be with, she had earlier invoked former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s policy on Kashmir at a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi today in an apparent suggestion for talks with separatists. “I understand that the coming 2-3 months are crucial for us. I want to say that you will find the situation of Jammu and Kashmir changed. We will first restore normalcy and then talks can be initiated,” she said after meeting Home Minister Rajnath Singh here. She said the central government at the highest level would have to take a decision on initiating a dialogue. During the meeting, at which BJP’s general secretary incharge of the state, Ram Madhav, was also present, Mehbooba briefed Singh about the law and order situation in the Valley, where violence broke out during the April 9 bypoll to the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat. She said there had to be an end to incidents of stone pelting and firing by security forces. The issues would be discussed at a meeting of the Unified Command in Kashmir. Asked about the possibility of the imposition of Governor’s rule in the state, Mehbooba said only the central government could comment on that. The two leaders discussed steps needed to bring peace back to the Valley, where student protests against police actions have been gaining ground in recent days. Mehbooba also raised the issue of security of Kashmiris living in different parts of the country, referring to reports of alleged threats to them in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Singh told Mehbooba that all state governments had been instructed to provide security to Kashmiris in their states and asked to take strong action against anyone threatening or harassing Kashmiris. He mentioned a home ministry advisory sent on this on Friday. At a meeting of the NITI Aayog yesterday, Mehbooba had asked all chief ministers to reach out to Kashmiri students in their states and treat them as their “own children”. PTI
Mehbooba meets PM, emphasises on dialogue
New Delhi, Apr 24 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and emphasised that dialogue was the only way to prevent the situation from deteriorating in the Valley. She invoked former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s policy on Kashmir, and said the thread should be picked up from where he had left off — an apparent suggestion for talks with separatists. “How long can you have confrontation… There is no option but to talk,” Mehbooba said. “However, an atmposphere needs to be created for a dialogue,” she said. During the 20-minute meeting at Modi’s residence here, Mehbooba briefed the prime minister on the situation, particularly in the increase in violence since the April 9 by-poll for the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency. Recent tensions in the PDP-BJP alliance over the handling of the security situation in Kashmir also came up at the meeting. Referring to the increase in stone-pelting incidents, she said there were some young people who were “disillusioned” while some were being “instigated”, including through the use of social media sites such as Facebook and Whatsapp. The path of dialogue undertaken by Vajpayee is the only way out to resolve the Kashmir crisis, she said. She also raised the Indus water treaty issue, saying it was causing a huge loss to the state. Mehbooba said the prime minister assured her that efforts would be made to see how the state would be compensated for this. PTI