SRI NAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday welcomed the resolution adopted by the All-Party Delegation (APD’s) while opposition parties criticised it.“Engagement and reconciliation is the only way forward to end the stalemate and make peace, stability and prosperity a reality in the State and the region,” Mehbooba said.
She said the separatist leadership missed the recent opportunity of engaging with the Parliamentarians during their visit to the State to find a solution to the problem. Hitting out at separatists, she said by shying away from talks, they are in the danger of being squarely blamed for holding up the resolution process. “Our children are getting killed and maimed, our social fabric is slipping into disorder, economy is in shambles. We shall have to ponder over how long we are going to allow this self destruction to continue,” Mehbooba said.
Former Chief Minister and opposition National Conference working president Omar Abdullah said All Party delegation achieved nothing. “If all they had to do was issue this tame and sterile appeal they could very easily have done so without wasting the time and money on a visit,” Omar said.
J&K Congress chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir said the resolution makes it clear that neither the Centre nor the State government is serious in addressing the political and security concerns of people of the State. He alleged that visit of All Party delegation to Kashmir was just a “drama” enacted to hoodwink people of the State. “There is no mention of even a single confidence building measure in the resolution of All Party delegation”.
Peoples Democratic Front chairman and MLA Khan Sahib termed the resolution as a “crude joke” on people of the State.
Meanwhile, over 150 people were injured in fresh clashes between youth and security personnel across the Kashmir on Wednesday. 70-year-old Abdul Gani Mir suffered a cardiac arrest at his home in Chawalgam village while clashes were going on in the area. With Gani’s death, the death toll in ongoing unrest in the Valley has risen to 77.