Srinagar: Shoots of peace are “sprouting” in the militancy-hit state of Jammu and Kashmir and the government is now working towards ensuring that the people in the state can be uplifted with dignity, state Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has said.
In an interview , the 58-year-old chief minister welcomed recent attempts by the Centre and the ruling party to reach out to Kashmiris, starting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi?s Independence Day speech where he asked the countrymen to embrace Kashmiris.
This was followed by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh?s statement that the Centre is willing to hold talks with all stakeholders, then BJP leader Ram Madhav saying talks can be held with anyone. In his “Mann ki Baat” speech on Sunday, Modi also praised a poor Kashmiri youth, Bilal Dar, for his attempt to clean up a lake, which became front page news in Kashmir and heavily discussed on social media.
“These are welcome signs” in Kashmir Valley where people are eagerly waiting for peace to return, the chief minister said.
“The shoots of peace have started sprouting. They have to be watered and fertilized, and I am sure that the fruits of peace will follow,” she said in the interview at her home, with a large portrait of her father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, in the background. Mehbooba succeeded him as the chief minister a few months after his death in January 2016.
