Attack aimed at triggering fresh violence, war-like situation: Mehbooba
Strongly condemning the deadly militant attack on an army base in Uri, the Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti today said the attack seems to be aimed at triggering fresh violence and creating a war-like situation in the region.
The Chief Minister while expressing anguish over the attack paid rich tributes to the slain soldiers. She extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and also prayed for early recovery of those injured in the attack.
The Chief Minister said the heightened tension in the wake of Uri attack is set to further vitiate the atmosphere in and around Jammu and Kashmir amid increasing Indo-Pak hostility.
“Unfortunately, people in Jammu and Kashmir, who are already mired in an agonizing situation shall have to bear the maximum brunt of the fresh attempts being made to step up violence and trigger fresh bloodshed in the State,” she said and added that J&K has always been the worst victim of Indo-Pak hostility and its people have been paying a colossal price for the same for the past over six decades.
The Chief Minister said that the perpetrators of violence must understand that violent methods have yielded nothing in the past nor will these yield anything in future except adding to the miseries of the people.
National Conference Working President Omar Abdullah on Sunday strongly condemned the attack on an Army Garrison in Uri and expressed solidarity with the families of the slain soldiers and extended his heartfelt condolences to them.
“This is a highly condemnable and tragic incident,” said Omar.
He also prayed for the speedy recovery of those who have sustained injuries in the attack”, the NC Working President said in a statement.
Soz asks political parties to take joint stand on Kashmir
Former Union Minister and Senior Congress leader Saif-ud-din Soz on Sunday appealed all the pro-India political parties in Kashmir to take a joint stand on Kashmir.
In a statement issued today, he said: “I reiterate my plea that it is high time at this critical moment in Kashmir that the mainstream parties, (including NC, Congress, PDP, CPM, PDF, DNP) make their stand clear on the Kashmir question and tell the three stakeholders (among others) in clear terms as to what they should do under the present circumstances; the Hurriyat, the Govt. of India and the Govt. of Pakistan.
“The current critical situation urges it (the mainstream) to perform this duty.”
Soz said that he committed two wrongs – “one, when I described the Home Minister of India Rajnath Singh’s narrative around the visit of All Party Parliamentary Delegation to Kashmir as conducive to the Dialogue-Process and for sensitizing PM Modi’s mind on Kashmir.”
“The second time my calculation failed me was when I assessed that RSS/BJP had started responding to the unrest in Kashmir. This assessment was based on RSS/BJP senior functionary Ram Madhav’s statement that ‘even Moon could be offered to Kashmir within the constitution of India.”
Asking Kashmiris to realize “what is what?”, Soz said: “Ram Madhav, who is also BJP General Secretary, (Incharge J&K State), has revealed his mind fully before a senior journalist Karan Thappar (see video interview telecast by India-Today on September 10, 2016) that BJP’s position on the question of Autonomy was clear and there was no change in that.