No political vacuum in Jammu & Kashmir, says Nirmal Singh

SRINAGAR: As Kashmir unrest entered its sixth day with 40 people killed, 1,640 injured and continued curfew, senior BJP leader and J&K’s deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh said there was no political vacuum in the state and profreedom leaders and Pakistan were trying to exploit the sentiments of people.

According to Singh, the spontaneous protests after the killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was the result of ‘glamourisation of militancy’ due to social media and Pakistan. He said the current crisis should not be linked with any ‘political process’ as he was hopeful that the situation would normalise soon.

The statement of deputy chief minister once again exposes strains within the PDP-BJP coalition, as PDP’s senior leader and government spokesperson Naem Akhtar, earlier stated that New Delhi has to restart the ‘political process of engagement’ to address issues of the state.

Interestingly, Pakistan People’s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, expressing solidarity and asserting that his party and Pakistan was ‘duty bound to help in the resolution of this long-standing issue’.

“Pakistan, separatists, terroristsare trying to exploit the situation. I think by linking all this with political lacunae is not right. We are elected representatives of people. We should not fall in this trap of anti-nationals,” Singh told ET.

If there are negative voices, there is also 67 per cent people who voted in elections, said Singh.

“Negative news definitely carries weight, but we should also think of the positives. Large numbers of people don’t want this violence. “ The common people also realise that gun will not yield any results, said Singh. “These people (militants) are hurting their parents and society.”

J&K government as of now has confirmed the death of 31 people and stated that 1,640 civilians were injured. In order to control flow of information and put a stop on rumours, the government has blocked mobile internet services and also snapped mobile network in some parts of south Kashmir, where most of the killings took place.