India

Cong questions PM's 'silence' on 'dangerous' situation in Kashmir

PTI

The Congress on Friday questioned the “silence” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the “dangerous” situation in Jammu & Kashmir, while asking the Government whether it is in favour of a military solution or dialogue to resolve the issue.

AICC spokesperson Kapil Sibal mocked the BJP-led NDA Government, remarking that “Terror and dialogue cannot go together, but terror and birthday cake can go together”, referring to Modi’s impromptu visit to Pakistan to attend his counterpart Nawaz Sharif’s birthday in 2015.

He accused the Modi Government of not having a policy on Kashmir or on Pakistan which was responsible for the rising number of terror incidents in the valley and ceasefire violations along the line of Control.

“Somewhere the policy of the Government is not clear. They don’t have any clarity in their policy... They have no policy on Kashmir, they have no policy on Pakistan,” he said.

“Do they want a military solution or do they want a dialogueIJ” he asked.

Sibal said the situation in the State was “disturbing” as for the first time youth in the valley were coming out on the streets with no one leading them.

“This is a dangerous situation,” he said, noting that it was a leaderless movement and wondered how the situation came to such a pass.

He also expressed serious concern over rise in bank robberies in the valley, while noting that there have been 13 such robberies.

Questioning the prime minister’s silence on Kashmir, he said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks on several issues. We want to hear him speak on the situation in Jammu & Kashmir. He has, however, maintained a surprising silence on the issue”.