Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday told Pakistan to stop supporting militancy in Jammu & Kashmir and let peace return to the State.
Mehbooba was addressing a gathering in south Kashmir’s Dooru area while campaigning for her younger brother Tasadduq Mufti, who is fighting his introductory election against a candidate jointly fielded by opposition National Conference and Congress parties. The area is scheduled to go for by-poll on April 12.
“Pakistan adopted the policy of not supporting militancy during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure. I ask them to stop supporting the militancy and help us in restoring the peace in the state,” she said.
She said that after the restoration of peace in the state, the talks would be initiated at every level.
“Prime Minister, Narendra Modi went to lahore, Pakistan to meet Nawaz Shareef there but unfortunately the Pathankot incident occurred following his visit,” she said.
Calling unemployment a main problem for the youth in the state, Mehbooba said, “The unemployment is the biggest challenge and we will address this issue very effectively.”
Meanwhile, various People Democratic Party (PDP) leaders who were accompanying the Chief Minister also spoke on the occasion.
Meanwhile the separatist Joint Resistance Forum comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik called for “2016-like protests” on the days when by-elections are scheduled in central and south Kashmir lok Sabha seats.
“People should start holding protests from April 8 after 6 pm,” the leaders said in a joint statement. They stressed upon people to hold “massive protests the same way they did in 2016 uprising”.
The leaders reiterated their election boycott call and said, “Complete shutdown should be observed on April 9 and 12 in central and south Kashmir respectively, on April 7 people should support the resolution of the leadership and the protests should start on April 8 after 6 pm.”