PUNE: Former Union home minister and Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde today hit out at the Narendra Modi Government over its handling of the situation in Kashmir, saying it is only interested in “publicity”.
Referring to the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani in the Kashmir Valley, Shinde said “If any militant is killed, why there is a need to make it public that he was a militant. See what has happened after the incident, 47 innocent people have lost their lives unnecessarily”.
“While handing executions of Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab, the previous Congress-led UPA Government had maintained secrecy. However, the present Government likes to believe in publicity. See, what happened due to the publicity after the execution of (1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict) Yakub Memon as over 50,000 people had gathered for his funeral after his body was taken to Mumbai (from Nagpur),” Shinde said.
On solution to the situation in Kashmir where normal life remained paralysed for the 24th consecutive day, he said, “the Centre should have a dialogue with newspapers in Valley and people of Kashmir”.
