The Opposition in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday extended full support to the Government to resolve the present situation in Kashmir and said the need of the hour was to win the hearts and minds of Kashmiris through dialogue and political process. Expressing concern over the plight of the local people with curfew continuing for the 32nd day, the Elders also urged the government to send a stern message to Pakistan to stop interfering in the internal affairs of India. At the same time though, the Opposition sought an immediate ban on pellet guns.
The discussion on Kashmir issue also saw some members, including leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intentions to reach out to Kashmiris and said he did not speak from the heart.
Referring to Modi’s speech in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday where he said his Government believes in “Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat,” Azad said the appeal should come from the heart and not lips. The need of the hour is integration of hearts and minds of Kashmiris, he said.
Taking exception to the Prime Minister choosing to address the Kashmiris in a function instead of Parliament after Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti reportedly requested him to do so, Azad wondered if the national Capital and Parliament shifted to Madhya Pradesh. This comment drew sharp reaction from BJP members and leader of House Arun Jaitley said given the situation in Kashmir, Parliament should speak in one voice.
Initiating the discussion, Azad said Kashmir is not communal, adding more than 95 per cent people killed by militants were Muslims. Highlighting that Kashmir is a “complex issue,” the Congress leader said politics comes first, economic development at second place followed by employment. Therefore, the issue has to be handled politically, he said.
Countering Azad, Shamsher Singh Manhas, a BJP member from Jammu & Kashmir, said while talking about the State, members should also keep in mind it has three parts, including Jammu, Kashmir and ladakh. He said it was wrong to say that unemployment led to youth in Kashmir resorting to violence. He said several lakh young men were jobless in Jammu region but they never picked up the gun. Many are guarding the border with Pakistan, he asserted.
Terming the turmoil in Kashmir as not only a “Kashmiri tragedy but a national tragedy,” senior Congress leader Karan Singh said there is “no magic wand” to solve the complex problem. He called for setting up an empowered group which can take decisions as it is a political, economic and human problem.
Attacking Kashmiri separatist leaders for instigating youth to lay down their lives in the name of ‘Jehad’, Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh, who hails from the State, questioned why they did not show their children the “way to ‘Jannat’ but send them to safe havens”.
Rejecting popular perception that Kashmiri youth is misguided and harboured anti-India sentiments and should be debarred from access to internet, Singh said the youth of Kashmir wants to be the beneficiary of India’s success story.
Ramgopal Yadav(SP) targeted Pakistan and said a stern message has to be sent to that country as its Army and ISI is stoking trouble in Kashmir. “Poison is being injected in the hearts and minds of the people” of Kashmir and that “no solution will be effective till the time the source of this venom is blocked”.
Nominated member Swapan Dasgupta said the protests and ensuing violence has a “degree of premeditation on part of several people.” It is important to also note that “false propaganda” is being fueled from across the border, he said. Calling to address the issue of “emotional schism” in Kashmir, Dasgupta said what form of political approach should be taken and when is the “pertinent” question.
Derek O’ Brien (TMC) stressed that Pakistan should not “meddle” in India’s affairs and said minorities were not safe there. He said with greater internet penetration, opinion was shaped on the web and gave the example of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani, whose killing triggered the unrest.
Urging that Parliament and the Government should reassure the people of Kashmir that India was with them in this hour of crisis, Sharad Yadav (JD-U) said a resolution should be passed in this relation.
Contending that there is trust deficit among the people in the State due to a “string of betrayals,” Sitaram Yechury (CPM) said the country will have to address the reasons for alienation.