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Parliament on boil over Kashmir
Blaming Pakistan for instigating trouble in Kashmir, the government on Wednesday agreed to hold an all-party meeting over the unrest in the valley after politicians from across the spectrum sought a political solution to bring peace to the restive state.
New Delhi: Blaming Pakistan for instigating trouble in Kashmir, the government on Wednesday agreed to hold an all-party meeting over the unrest in the valley after politicians from across the spectrum sought a political solution to bring peace to the restive state.
Rajya Sabha MPs asked the government to call the meeting over the Kashmir situation and then send a delegation of parliamentarians to the valley for talks with a cross section of the people.
Highlights:
- Rajnath Singh blames Pakistan for the Kashmir violence
- Nobody in the world can take Kashmir from us, asserts HM
- Win the hearts of Kashmiris, tells Ghulam Nabi Azad
- Yechury calls for a political process to end arson
- Govt indicates all-party delegation to Kashmir soon
“There will be an all-party meeting on August 12 (Friday). Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be in the meeting,” Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said after a day-long bipartisan discussion on Kashmir.
He, however, said that a delegation to be sent will have to wait before some normalcy is restored in the valley where over 55 people have died and thousands injured in a month of unrest following a militant commander's killing on July 8.
“Whatever is happening in the Kashmir Valley is sponsored by Pakistan,” Rajnath Singh told the House. Nobody in the world can take Kashmir from us. If there be talks with Pakistan, there won't be a discussion on Kashmir but on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir," he said.
Initiating the debate, Opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad urged the government to win the hearts and minds of the people of the "integral part of India". "We always say Kashmir is an integral part of India.
But integral part should not be on paper only. There should be the integration of minds and hearts," Azad said, expressing concern over the violence and continued lockdown of the valley. The Congress leader slammed the Prime Minister for not speaking in Parliament about the situation in the valley and choosing a Madhya Pradesh rally to appeal for peace in Kashmir.
"If something happens in Africa, you (Modi) tweet, Pakistan is an enemy nation and still you speak when something happens there. It is good to show sympathy with all. But the crown of India (Kashmir) is burning. You must have felt the heat on your head, if not the heart," he said.
Azad's party colleague and former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Karan Singh said the government and the House should "introspect why thousands of youths have embarked on a path of destruction" in the valley. MPs from other parties joined the chorus and asked the government to stop using pellet guns against Kashmiri protesters. "We have to end the violence and the current bloodshed in Kashmir.
Start a political process to bring an end to the problems of people of Kashmir,” CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said. Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav stressed on a political initiative to win the trust of the people of the state.
Nazir Ahmad Laway, a Kashmir lawmaker from the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), questioned why the nation remembered Kashmir only "when it is burning". "The longer we take to resolve this issue, the harder it will be. Kashmiri people...don't trust us. They say delegations come and go, but nothing is ever done for us," he added.
