44 days on, Centre takes no initiative to mitigate Valley's problem: J-K Cong chief

New Delhi, Aug. 21 (ANI): After the delegation of leaders of opposition parties from Jammu and Kashmir held a meeting with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and apprised him of the restive situation in the Valley, J&K Congress chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir on Sunday said 44 days have passed but the state and the central governments had not taken any initiative to mitigate the problem, except controlling law and order situation, as happens in other state, even as the situation here is very different and serious in nature. Emerging out of the meeting, Mir told ANI, "Around 20 leaders of various opposition parties spoke to Rahul Gandhi in detail for 70 minutes. We apprised him in detail about the situation in Kashmir, including Jammu and Ladakh. We also said 44 days have passed but the state and the central governments have not made any initiative to mitigate the problem, except controlling law and order situation like in any other state, even as the situation here is very different and serious in nature." "Kashmir needs attention of the national leadership of the country, especially of the opposition leaders. They should express solidarity with the people of Kashmir and pressurise the government to take immediate measures for normalising the situation there," he added. The delegation had on Saturday called on President Pranab Mukherjee to apprise him of the situation in the Valley and also handed over a memorandum to him in this regard. The delegation will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. Asked about Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's statement that India wants to see pens and computers in the hands of the Kashmiri youth and not stones and firearms, Mir said somewhere the present governments both the state or the Centre were also responsible for that. "We want to ask the same question to Rajnathji that when their coalition government came to power, we thought that you would do away the shortcomings in the state. We also want that the children and youth of Jammu and Kashmir should have laptops, pens and mobile, instead of stones and guns, but they shoulder greater responsibility because they are ruling the nation and the state," he said. "They should ask what shortcomings and the promises they had made to the people; if they fulfil their promises, there will come a day when the children will have computers and laptops instead of guns," Mir added. In an attempt to reach out to the Kashmiri youth, the Home Minister on Saturday insisted that India wants to see pens and computers in their hands and not stones and firearms. Addressing a gathering at Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Rajnath Singh said, "The people of this country want to see pens and computers in the hands of Kashmiri youth and not stones and firearms. We want to see employment in your hand. We want to see you working hard." "There can be no solution by protests. We first want that peace is established in the Valley and only after that we can mutually find a solution. The people of this country not only love the land of Kashmir but the Kashmiri people as well," he added. With Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today accusing Pakistan of waging a war against India using new methods of spreading unrest and inciting violence among masses in the Kashmir Valley, Mir said, "See, nobody is overruling the Pakistan factor. Pakistan is active for the past 25 years and they have a purpose of their own. But what is our responsibility; Kashmir belongs to India, and thus, we should perform our duty towards the people of Kashmir. Dealing with Pakistan is a job of the Government of India." "We want to apprise the national leadership about the situation in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and want to tell them to deal with our problems; how you deal with Pakistan is your part," he concluded. Addressing the BJP's 'Tiranga Yatra' in Jammu, Jaitley said India's unity has been challenged and the forces behind it need to be defeated. He said a new serious situation has arisen as Pakistan and various other forces are involved in the violence, and the people of Jammu and Kashmir should once again jointly fight against this aggression. Speaking on the occasion, Minster of State in the Prime Minister's Office Dr. Jitendra Singh also held Pakistan responsible for the prevailing unrest in the Valley. (ANI)