Mehbooba Mufti says 95% Kashmiris peace-loving

Jammu Tawi, August 23: As life in Kashmir remained paralysed with curfew being imposed in several parts of the state for the 46th day on Tuesday, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said that the unrest in Kashmir was “preplanned” as majority of the people in the state were peace-loving.

“Ninety-five per cent of the people were peace-loving and should not be punished for the fault of 5 per cent,” the chief minister said at a public meeting in the valley.

Urging the Union government to take care of the 95 per cent of the people, she emphasized that they want peace, education and development.

“Most Kashmiris want peace. They understand that the kind of freedom Kashmir is enjoying today is not there even in Islamic countries like Afghanistan, Syria, Turkey and Pakistanis. When gun enters a country, it is not free, no matter how much it claims to be free,” she said.

“I request the government in Delhi to do something for Kashmiris… I want to tell the government in Delhi that they should not view Kashmiri people from one angle. 95 per cent of the people want to send their children to the schools, want to work and want to earn their livelihood,” Mufti said.

Kashmiris also have “lot of faith” in the country which is proved by the fact that many of them have sent their children for studies to various parts of the country because of sense of insecurity in the state, she said.

“If they did not have faith in the country, they would not send their children there but to other countries,” she added.

The chief minister then called upon all parties to work together to help the troubled situation.

“The central government and the Congress, which has been creating a lot of hue and cry on Kashmir right now, should work together to formulate some kind of mechanism to bring out 95 per cent people of the Kashmir out of this troubled situation,” she said.

Alleging that children were being used as a shield by “vested interests” while attacking camps and posts of security forces, she said, “I have been saying that gun will not solve anything. Stones also will not solve anything”.

Calling upon people to come forward for talks to discuss any grievances, Mufti said, “Killing of militants has been happening for the past 25 years. I want to tell you this because all this was pre-planned. They were waiting for a reason, a chance to put the state back into that fire in which it was always.”

Mufti also said the people, who are vitiating the environment and creating unrest in the region, are not Kashmiris. “The people of Jammu and Kashmir know what ‘azadi' is. These few people want to vitiate the environment of peace because the BJP-PDP government is doing good work and they have began to deliver,” she said.