NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday he
wants India to discuss human rights issues about Balochistan and Azad
Kashmir with expatriates from these regions living in different
countries.
He also cited an old parliamentary resolution
to claim all of Jammu and Kashmir, including the part with Pakistan, as
India’s, but opposition leaders he was addressing looked unimpressed
and told him to heal the shattered hearts of the people in the Kashmir
Valley first.
Describing Azad Jammu and Kashmir as
India’s, Mr Modi told an all-party meeting that a dialogue must be
initiated with expatriates all over the world from that region about
what Indians say are abuses by Islamabad.
Modi wants rights issues discussed with Balochistan, AJK expatriates
“There cannot be any compromise on national security, but we
have to win the confidence of the people in Jammu and Kashmir,” Mr Modi
said, playing good cop bad cop on the raging issue.
He
blamed “cross-border terrorism” for the unrest in the disputed region.
Friday’s meeting was called to find a political solution to the crisis
in Kashmir, where over 50 people have been killed in clashes between
protesters and security forces and more than 5,000 have been injured
since July 8 when violent protests erupted over the killing of Burhan
Wani, a young militant.
The opposition said that it
backed the government in its attempt to restore peace in the valley, but
demanded that immediate confidence-building measures be initiated like
discontinuing the use of pellet guns to curb protests.
In the recent protests at least 100 people have been blinded by pellets fired by security forces and many others are injured.
Opposition
leaders also suggested that discussions be held with all groups,
including those opposed to Indian rule in the disputed region, and that
the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, which grants special powers to
the army, be lifted from civilian areas. But the government said that
these conditions might not be appropriate at this time.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh spoke first for the Congress, saying the “centre must show it is a caring government”.
The
government has said it would consider all of the suggestions made by
the opposition, including sending an all-party delegation to Kashmir
after the situation on the ground improves.
“We will be
satisfied only when the ground situation improves and the government
takes steps,” said the Congress’s Ghulam Nabi Azad, who had criticised
PM Modi for making his first comments on the Kashmir crisis at a rally
in Madhya Pradesh and not in parliament.
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