Mehbooba proposes talks with militants at right time

Our Correspondent

Anantnag, January 15

Former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday said the militant leadership in Kashmir should be talked to along with the separatists and Pakistan.

“Not now, at a proper time but I believe it’s important that the parleys are held with the gun-holding youth of Kashmir,” Mehbooba said during an interaction with mediapersons in Anantnag on Tuesday.

She met delegations of her party workers at the Dak Bungalow in Anantnag town after which she had a detailed interaction with mediapersons.

Mehbooba said since her advent into politics in 1996, she had firmly believed that the local militants were the sons of the soil and assets to the community.

“Yes, if there is an encounter and militants are in a face-off with the Army, nothing can be done then. But in the larger picture, our efforts should be to save the young boys,” Mehbooba Mufti said.

She said it was her firm belief that it was the militants who could put an end to the violence.

“So, it is imperative that the militant leadership is talked to. I believe parleys should be held with the Hurriyat and Pakistan too,” she said.

When asked about the filing of a charge sheet against Kanhaiya Kumar, Omar Khalid and seven Kashmiri students in the JNU sedition case, Mehbooba said it was akin to the Congress government hanging Afzal Guru before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

“Like the Congress hanged Guru out of turn in an attempt to garner votes, the BJP is doing the same thing with the JNU sedition case because of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections,” she said.

Mehbooba also took a dig at the National Conference (NC) for promising a Truth and Reconciliation Committee into the 2016 civilian killings if it came to power.

“If any such thing happens I will welcome that but the NC has been making promises for the last 70 years. Have they delivered on any of them yet?” she asked.

She blamed the NC for bringing the notorious Task Force, Prevention of Terrorism Act and other things while they had a two-thirds majority in the Legislative Assembly.