The time has come to expose Pakistan’s brutalities on the people of Balochistan and Pak-occupied Kashmir (Azad Kashmir), Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday as the government launched a fresh offensive against Islamabad for fuelling the latest unrest in Kashmir.
The government found support from all major parties at a meeting called to discuss the violence in Kashmir that has left at least 59 people dead, most of them civilians, in the valley since July 9.
Modi said the government will reach out to the alley but added that Jammu, Ladakh and Azad Kashmir should also be said in the same breath when talking about Kashmir, endorsing the views of Congress leader Karan Singh.
All parties unequivocally supported the government’s decision to aggressively expose Pakistan in international forums.
Modi and foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said the government will also get in touch with people who have fled Azad Kashmir.
“Pakistan has forgotten that it bombards its own citizens from fighter planes. Time has come for Pakistan to give answer before the world on the atrocities committed against people in Balochistan and Pak-occupied Kashmir,” the PM said.
The government said an all-party delegation to the valley may be considered after the situation normalises.
Read| All-party delegations to commissions: Delhi’s attempt to engage with Kashmir
“Political outreach is already happening. There will be no lowering of guard as far as security is concerned. Forces will act with restraint but terrorism and violence will be dealt with. We will try and ensure normalcy returns as fast as possible,” finance minister Arun Jaitley said after the meeting.
During the consultations, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the Centre “must do everything to defuse the present tension and it should also be seen as a caring government.”
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad talked about the “brain drain” in Kashmir since 1990. “Not only Kashmiri Pandits left, but Muslim intelligentsia also fled, leaving a vaccum,” he said.
Trinamool’s Sudip Bandopadhyay felt that Kashmiri youth are in search of a new leadership.
BJD’s Lok Sabha leader Bhartuhari Mahtab said that political leadership should be more active and local parties should speak in one voice. Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav also demanded a common voice in all parties and said, “China is actually the main culprit.”
JD(U)’s Sharad yadav insisted that the government should talk to Kashmiri youth as “they are our children” and sought a ban on use of pellet guns by security forces, blamed for eye injuries to a large number of people including minors.
The Shiv Sena, however, favoured continuation of pellet guns.
CPI(M) chief Sitaram Yechury said a National Human Rights Commission team should go to Kashmir.
“Mr. Prime Minister, you have a hotline with the Pakistan PM. Why don’t you talk to him on this issue?”
Satish Mishra of BSP asked for regulation of electronic media in Kashmir coverage, Asauddin Owaisi of MIM demanded people-centric solutions and a ban on visits by human rights bodies to the Valley.
DMK’s Kanimozhi said there should be no engagement with other countries and PDP’s Muzaffar Hussain beg pleased for no use of pellet gun. “This unrest is different from 2010. People from rural areas coming to streets,” he said.
TDP’s YS Chowdhury, a new minister, came out with the idea of using drones to keep a tab on Kashmiris and identify the trouble-makers.