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‘Guns not solution to Kashmir’s problems’
SRINAGAR: As an encounter raged between militants and security personnel in curfew-bound Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti unfurled the Tricolour
SRINAGAR: As an encounter raged between militants and security personnel in curfew-bound Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti unfurled the Tricolour in Srinagar on Monday and asserted that guns were not the solution to the Kashmir crisis.
In an embarrassing moment, the Tricolour fell off the post as the CM was hoisting it at Srinagar’s Bakshi stadium. Mehbooba herself tried to unfurl it with her hands but her security staff came up within seconds and held it straight as the entire field saluted. The flag was later put on the pole by the security staff. Director general of police K Rajendra Kumar told the media that he has ordered an inquiry into the fiasco.
In her maiden Independence Day address, the state’s first woman chief minister also hoped that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would complete the process started by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to address the issues.
Mehbooba’s comments came against the backdrop of more than a month-long unrest in the Valley triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. More than 50 people were killed and thousands injured in violent clashes between security forces and civilians.
Yasir Sheikh, from Batmaloo area in Srinagar, died due to bullet injury in a protest on Monday, taking the toll in the ongoing crisis to 60. Riyaz Ahmad, 18, from Tangmarg, succumbed to injuries earlier in the day.
In a strong speech, Mehbooba observed that while the entire country was celebrating Independence Day, Kashmir has been burning for more than a month, and asserted that guns — whether on the state’s side or in the militants’ hands —were not the solution.
“Kashmir is not that which fires the gun or takes to violence. Kashmir is paradise on Earth,” she said, and expressed pain at the many deaths and injuries caused in the recent clashes.
In her speech, which was a mix of Urdu and Kashmiri, Mehbooba promised that security forces would be made accountable for the excesses committed by them.
