SRINAGAR/JAMMU: Chief Minister
Mehbooba Mufti on Monday reiterated the need for talks between New Delhi and
Islamabad to end bloodshed in
Jammu and Kashmir, a day after five people, including three minors, of a family were killed in Pakistani shelling at a village along the Line of Control in Poonch district.
After visiting family members of the deceased in Pakistani shelling at Bimber Gali of Mendhar-Poonch and handing over a cheque of Rs 3 lakh each to two injured daughters of the family, she said, “It is unfortunate that people living in border areas, such as Poonch, RS Pura, Nowshehra, Uri, Karnah, of the state are in constant fear of Pakistani firing.”
“What was the fault of the five people?” she said on Pakistani shelling. “It is said when people elsewhere are demanding better infrastructure and amenities, residents of border areas in J&K are asking for bunkers.” She described people living in border areas as the country’s “first line of defence”.
She appealed to PM
Narendra Modi to take the initiative to end the bloodbath and asked the Pakistan leadership to have peaceful engagements and dialogues with India.
Mehbooba hailed the steps taken by former PM AB Vajpayee, and later PM Modi’s visit to
Lahore to ensure peace. She said she had appealed PM Modi to “act like an elder brother and persuade Pakistan for a peaceful engagement and work jointly against poverty, unemployment and deprivation”.
The member of the Legislative Assembly from Mendhar, Javed A Rana, said all efforts should be made to silence guns. “Peace is the basic need of any society. The government must ensure peace first.”
File photo of Mehbooba Mufti
