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Modi breaks silence over growing unrest in Indian-controlled Kashmir

Xinhua, August 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday broke his silence over Indian-controlled Kashmir, where over 60 people have been killed and thousands injured in unrest since the killing of 22-year-old militant Burhan Wani by security forces last month.

In an address in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, Modi said that Indians love Kashmir and blamed a few people for creating unrest in the northern state. "India loves Kashmir. Only a handful of people have been misled and are hurting the great land of Kashmir," he said.

He also cited the Atal Bihari Vajpayee model of outreach to Kashmiris, saying the former Indian Prime Minister had adopted "Insaniyat, Kashmiriyat and Jamooriyat. We are his followers. I want to tell people of Kashmir that the Azadi (freedom) that India feels, even Kashmir can have".

Reaching out to the youths of Indian-controlled Kashmir amid concerns that many of them are taking to militancy, the Prime Minister said: "I invite young people of Kashmir to make Kashmir the swarga (paradise) that it is."

Modi's statement came a day after India's opposition parties accused him of not doing enough to quell the unrest in Kashmir, which has been under curfew for over a month now, following violence in the wake of killing of Wani, who was terror outfit Hizbul Mujahuddin's poster boy for new militancy.

The Indian-controlled Kashmir's Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had Monday expressed confidence on the Prime Minister would initiate dialogue with the people the state to address their problems after she met Home Minister Rajnath Singh in the national capital.

"There is a need to take the same initiative of winning hearts of the people of Kashmir, which was taken during former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's tenure," she told the media, hoping that some sense of normalcy returned to the state.

Kashmir is a disputed territory, with both India and Pakistan claiming stake to the region. Both the countries have fought at least three major wars over Kashmir in the past 65 years. Endit