Mehbooba Mufti asks PM Narendra Modi to talk to Kashmiris

NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to initiate a dialogue with the people of the state.

The CM, who has struggled to restore normalcy in the Valley following the killing of Hizb-ul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani, said only the process of dialogue with the people of Kashmir could bring peace.

“I hope Prime Minister Narendra Modi will initiate a dialogue process on Kashmir issue. Jammu and Kashmir can act as bridge between India & Pakistan,” Mehbooba told the media in New Delhi on Monday.

The chief minister was in the national capital to discuss the law and order situation with home minister Rajnath Singh.

“During the one month’s unrest, 55 people have lost their lives. Many people were injured. Security personnel also lost their lives and many of them received injuries.

These are our own people, our own boys,” she added and stressed on the need to ‘apply balm’ to the wounds of Kashmiri people. The CM said there were disturbances in 2010, when about 120 people were killed and about 70-80 people in 2008.

“People will keep dying if we don’t take initiative to bring normalcy. We want peace. There is an opportunity for dialogue and we should avail it,” she said.

“Our prime minister has a huge mandate in the present Lok Sabha and he should seize the opportunity created by the unrest to win the hearts of the people and solve their problems, the way former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee did,” she said.