Vajpayee’s doctrine is only way out, insists Mehbooba

Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 29

Maintaining that violence will not help resolve issues, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said that peace and dialogue was the only way forward towards addressing the Kashmir imbroglio.

She reiterated the need to follow Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s doctrine for dealing with the Kashmir issue.

“Threads need to be picked up from where these were left by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2005, when a serious effort was made both on external and internal fronts to resolve the Kashmir issue through a credible and meaningful dialogue and confidence-building process,” Mehbooba Mufti said while addressing a function after inaugurating the Food Crafts Institute in the Dhammi area of Nagrota.

Mehbooba said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had the mandate to take bold decisions on the lines of Vajpayee’s doctrine for the resolution of the problems in and around Jammu and Kashmir. 

“We have to ensure that a credible mechanism for dialogue, reconciliation and resolution is put in place and it should not be like the half-hearted efforts made in similar situations after 2008 and 2010 unrests,” she said and called for creating a conducive atmosphere for dialogue.

The Chief Minister said whosoever wanted a solution to the Kashmir problem should understand that the solution was not going to come through violence. She said violence had changed nothing on the political spectrum of Jammu and Kashmir over the years and had only brought mayhem, miseries, economic disaster, academic breakdown and social disorder to the state.

The Chief Minister hailed the people of the Jammu region for maintaining peace and harmony despite repeated provocations by various disruptive elements.

She hoped that Pakistan, which is still not coming forward despite steps taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi by landing in Lahore, will one day realise that the only way out was to go ahead with the Vajpayee’s formula to resolve the issue.